Strategy Archives - CSP Commerce https://cspcommerce.com/category/ecommerce-strategy/ Reach More Customers Through Amazon and Google Shopping Tue, 13 Aug 2024 12:13:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 https://cspcommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CSP-Commerce-vml-favicon-150x150.png Strategy Archives - CSP Commerce https://cspcommerce.com/category/ecommerce-strategy/ 32 32 Maximising Marketing Impact: The advantages of having a CSP Account Manager https://cspcommerce.com/maximising-marketing-impact-account-managers/ Thu, 08 Aug 2024 16:40:00 +0000 https://cspcommerce.com/?p=23272 Introducing the CSP Commerce Account Managers We would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to two of our leading Account Managers: Christina & Aaron. Already with us? Current clients should already have an allocated Account Manager, and be communicating with them on a regular basis. We want to remind you that as an…

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Introducing the CSP Commerce Account Managers

We would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to two of our leading Account Managers: Christina & Aaron.

CSP Commerce account manager Christina

Christina

For three years, Christina has been the glue at CSP, balancing her role as Account Manager with her ‘work mum’ duties. She loves meeting new people, building relationships, and might even recruit you for her netball team! When she’s not on the job, you’ll find her either coaching netball, cruising on her motorbike, or enjoying a cold beer on a sunny day.

CSP Commerce account manager Aaron

Aaron

Meet Aaron, your multitasking Account Manager who's been at CSP for over a year. He’s a pro at keeping clients happy and outside of work enjoys hiking and detoxing in nature. If he was stranded on a desert island he’d take his dog Rigby, Wi-Fi and his PlayStation. Fun fact: Mary Berry once called his baking ‘better than expected!’

Our main goal is to be the voice of the customer and ensure that they understand every aspect of the project, from initial concept and strategy to performance and metrics.

Day-to-day, we offer guidance and advice on projects, coordinate the internal teams and monitor internal and external comms. We want to support the client’s growth while being there for them anytime they need help.

CSP Commerce account manager Christina

Christina

Account Manager

CSP Commerce Account Managers what do they do

So, what do they do and why do they play such an important role?

Here are some ways that our Account Managers can help:

CSP Commerce Account Managers important

Bridge the Gap

We are here to bridge the gap between CSP commerce, your company and any other internal/external contacts that are involved. This can include regular meetings between the relevant teams and/or 1-to-1 calls to go through things like performance, reporting and ongoing plans.

CSP Commerce Account Managers important

Quick Response

Our Account Managers are on hand to address their queries, concerns and feedback quickly and efficiently. They can direct the enquiry to the right team (whether that’s Marketplace Management, the Performance team, Web Development, Social Commerce or Content Marketing) for a faster response.

CSP Commerce Account Managers important

Consistent Communication

Having an Account Manager ensures that you are regularly updated on the progress of campaigns, project milestones and any suggestions to enhance performance. This is just one of the ways we work towards a clear two-way method of communication and building a strong relationship with our clients.

CSP Commerce Account Managers important

Personalised Service

They can tailor bespoke services and strategies to fit your unique needs and goals. This will include getting to know the business and understanding the industry.

CSP Commerce Account Managers important

Proactive Problem Solving

Occasionally things do go wrong but that’s okay! CSP Commerce AMs are there to spot potential issues or problems, and address them before they escalate. This ensures smoother project execution and better results (as well as reducing stress for both parties!)

Want to get started?

We would love to work with you to really take your marketing to the next level! If you would like to discuss your requirements, get in touch with our team today.

Already with us?

Current clients should already have an allocated Account Manager, and be communicating with them on a regular basis. We want to remind you that as an extended arm of the business, we are always here to help.

Utilising your relationship with us

Did you know that we currently offer around 10 different digital services and have dedicated specialists in each area?

These include:

Marketplace Management & eBay Promoted Listings

Google Ads Shopping Management & Google CSS

Web Development

Brand & Design

Content Marketing & Email Marketing

Social Commerce, Influencer & Affiliate Marketing

To boost performance, we would recommend a multichannel approach. We can help you with this by identifying any missed opportunities or areas of growth.

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Amazon Prime Day: Preparing for Success https://cspcommerce.com/preparing-for-prime-success/ Thu, 27 Jun 2024 15:57:39 +0000 https://cspcommerce.com/?p=22555 Amazon Prime dates have just been announced and the promotional event will take place on the 16th-17th July 2024. Prime Day was created with prime users in mind. It’s all about offering deals/discounts exclusively to Prime members from small businesses to big brands for a limited time. And with Prime Day being just around the…

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Amazon Prime dates have just been announced and the promotional event will take place on the 16th-17th July 2024. Prime Day was created with prime users in mind. It’s all about offering deals/discounts exclusively to Prime members from small businesses to big brands for a limited time. And with Prime Day being just around the corner, it’s a great opportunity for sellers to boost their sales and capture the attention of new customers.

Prime Day 2023, was their best performing event on record, with over 345 million products purchased worldwide (Source: Amazon) and over £1.15 Billion generated in sales (Statista). This just shows the scale of opportunity available to sellers on the platform.

We want to help you to make the most out of this shopping event and that’s why we have created this quick read guide to ensure that your business is ready to thrive this Prime Day from predicting success to a post prime day review.

Amazon Prime Day – Predicting Sales

It’s important to look at your previous Prime Day sales to forecast potential performance, and review whether you need to increase your budget to help take advantage of the increased traffic throughout the promotional period. Identify best sellers and anticipate how many units you will likely sell. This data is crucial in helping you prepare and ensure you meet customer demand.

There are a number of benefits from increasing your budgets during high traffic periods, such as uplift in brand awareness and recall leading to future purchases and retention. There is also the opportunity to get ahead of your competitors by ensuring your brand is at the top of mind when customers are searching.

Amazon Prime Day – Inventory Planning

One of the most important factors for any promotional event is having enough inventory. Whether you’re fulfilling orders yourself or using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), make sure your stock levels can handle the increased demand.

We understand the deadline has passed for Prime day but by reviewing your stock levels and monitoring how your sales perform this time, can help indicate how much stock you will need for your next promotional event. Running out of stock can lead to missed sales and disappointed customers. There is also the risk of potential customers discovering your competitors whilst your items are unavailable, leading to future loss of sales.

Enticing Deals

Amazon Prime Day is all about offering the most compelling exclusive deals for Prime members only.. It’s important to review your product margins to see what level of discounts you can offer and what type of promotion will most likely lead to sales as a lot of other competitors will also be trying to compete during the promotional event. Think about your goals, for example if you’re wanting to increase your average order value, then you could look to create a bundle offer which includes a best seller with complimentary products at a lower price to help draw your customers in.

Boost Your Visibility

Visibility is key during Amazon Prime Day. Increase your spend on sponsored product campaigns and brand ads to improve your brand’s overall visibility. We would recommend increasing your ad budget by 20% and checking in a few times a day to ensure that the campaigns are not running out of spend early in the day. We’re happy to help you determine your budgets for the promotional period, if you would like to get in touch.

In addition, try leverage email marketing and social media to help drive traffic to your Amazon listings.

Branding for Success

Make sure your product listings are retail-ready. This means having compelling product titles and informative bullet points that highlight the benefits of your products. Expand into A+ content to provide a more immersive shopping experience and build customer trust. Don’t forget to update your brand store to showcase your current offers and deals.

Effective Customer Service

Customer service can make or break your Prime Day performance. Be prompt in replying to customer queries on the listings to avoid purchase blockers. Excellent customer service can lead to positive reviews and repeat business, enhancing your brand’s reputation. Long wait times for a response can lead to negative reviews.

Post-Prime Day Review: Learn and Improve

Once Prime Day is over, it’s time to review the results. How many products did you sell? What was your conversion rate? Has impressions increased the average order value? Did your TACoS improve? Did more people visited your storefront? This analysis will help you understand what worked and what didn’t, allowing you to refine your strategy for future sales events.

By following these steps, you will be putting your brand in the best position to succeed. We have seen great results from our clients during Prime day promotions, where they have been able to increase budgets to improve visibility and uplift their sales.

We’re offering for a limited time only; a review of your three best-selling products using our 52-point check and a complimentary ads audit. If you would like to take advantage of this exclusive offer, please get in touch with our team here.

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Leveraging Affiliate Marketing https://cspcommerce.com/leveraging-affiliate-marketing/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 16:52:25 +0000 https://cspcommerce.com/?p=22029 In the ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce, businesses are constantly seeking innovative strategies to maximise their online presence and boost sales. One such strategy that is not getting the attention it deserves is Affiliate Marketing. This powerful tool has the capabilities to transform the way businesses promote their products and engage with their target audience. If…

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In the ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce, businesses are constantly seeking innovative strategies to maximise their online presence and boost sales. One such strategy that is not getting the attention it deserves is Affiliate Marketing. This powerful tool has the capabilities to transform the way businesses promote their products and engage with their target audience. If you are yet to take advantage of Affiliate Marketing, here are our top 5 reasons to incorporate it into your e-commerce strategy:

1. Cost-Effective Growth:

Affiliate Marketing offers a cost-effective way to expand your brand’s reach without the upfront expenses associated with traditional advertising. Instead of investing heavily in paid advertising, businesses can leverage the reach and influence of affiliates to promote their products. Affiliates are typically compensated based on performance, ensuring that your marketing budget is spent efficiently and tied directly to sales.

2. Broadened Audience Reach:

One of the key advantages of Affiliate Marketing is the ability to tap into a diverse and expansive audience. Affiliates, often bloggers, influencers, or niche experts, bring their unique follower base to the table. This results in exposure to audiences that might not be reachable through conventional marketing channels. By partnering with affiliates who align with your brand, you access a pool of potential customers who show interest in the products or services you offer.

3. Performance-Driven Results:

Affiliate Marketing operates on a performance-based model, meaning affiliates are rewarded for driving desired actions, such as clicks, leads or sales. This results-oriented approach ensures that businesses only pay for the actual value generated by the affiliate’s efforts. It’s a win-win situation, as it motivates affiliates to maximise their promotional efforts and earn higher commissions, aligning their interests with the success of your business.

4. Enhanced Credibility and Trust:

Today, consumers are more discerning and value recommendations from sources they trust. Affiliates often build strong relationships with their audience, and their endorsement of your products can significantly boost your brand’s credibility. When consumers see a product being recommended by a trusted affiliate, it adds an extra layer of authenticity and trust, making them more likely to make a purchase.

5. Data-Driven Insights:

Affiliate Marketing provides valuable insights into consumer behaviour and preferences. Through tracking and analytics tools, businesses can gather data on the performance of different affiliates, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the demographics of the audience reached. This data-driven approach enables businesses to refine their strategies, optimise their campaigns, and make informed decisions to drive further success.

Affiliate Marketing is a vital component of a successful e-commerce marketing strategy. Its ability to offer cost-effective growth, broaden audience reach, deliver performance-driven results, enhance credibility, and provide valuable data insights makes it an invaluable tool for businesses looking to thrive in the competitive online marketplace. By strategically integrating Affiliate Marketing into your overall marketing plan, you can unlock new opportunities for growth and establish lasting connections with your target audience.


CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey. Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach tailors to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street, Manchester, M3 4BN

#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchesterecommerceagency #amazon #ebaypromotedlistings

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Optimize and Excel: 5 Proven Steps to Elevate Your Ecommerce Customer Experience https://cspcommerce.com/optimize-and-excel-5-proven-steps-to-elevate-your-ecommerce-customer-experience/ Fri, 10 Nov 2023 12:06:39 +0000 https://cspcommerce.com/?p=21742 Now more than ever, there’s a pronounced demand for a genuine, human-centric approach to brand interactions. A consistent, positive experience across all customer touchpoints not only fosters loyalty but also bolsters retention and transforms customers into brand champions. Given this significance, it’s unsurprising that a superior customer experience is climbing the agenda for businesses worldwide.…

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Now more than ever, there’s a pronounced demand for a genuine, human-centric approach to brand interactions.

A consistent, positive experience across all customer touchpoints not only fosters loyalty but also bolsters retention and transforms customers into brand champions. Given this significance, it’s unsurprising that a superior customer experience is climbing the agenda for businesses worldwide.

Absolutely critical to this is the web experience, and nowhere is this point more salient than in the world of ecommerce.

With new technology, search algorithms and consumer demands, websites require consistent attention and optimisation. With so much noise, it can be hard to focus on what matters to your customers.

All too often, ecommerce leaders struggle to meet these pressures, resulting in a poor web experience that deters shoppers. By highlighting the 5 areas of your website you must get right to deliver the best possible customer experience, we can help remedy this problem. From product pages to search functionality and navigation, level up your ecommerce business’s customer experience with these web optimisation tips.

1: Optimising Product Pages

The journey to a satisfied customer commences on your product pages, making them pivotal in your website optimisation efforts.

An optimised product page is not just a showcase for your merchandise; it’s a key touchpoint where customers decide whether to make a purchase or abandon their carts.

Here’s our product page essentials:

High-Quality Imagery

Elevate your product images by ensuring they are not just high-resolution but also immersive. Consider using 360-degree product photography or interactive image zoom features. For certain industries like fashion or jewellery, virtual try-ons can offer customers a unique experience.

Compelling Descriptions

Craft product descriptions that not only provide essential details but also tell a story. Describe the product’s benefits, how it can improve the customer’s life, and the emotions it can evoke. Incorporate persuasive language that highlights uniqueness and value.

User Reviews and Ratings

User-generated content, such as reviews and ratings, plays a crucial role in building trust. Encourage customers to leave detailed reviews and ratings, and consider offering incentives for their contributions. Implement systems that allow customers to attach images and videos to their reviews for added authenticity.

Related Products

Enhance cross-selling and upselling opportunities by prominently displaying related or complementary products on the page. Implement advanced recommendation engines that analyse user behaviour and preferences to make highly relevant product suggestions. Utilise data-driven algorithms to curate product bundles and sets based on user purchase patterns.

2: Increasing Usability with Enhanced Navigation

Enhanced navigation is pivotal in delivering an exceptional customer experience. It simplifies the shopping journey, reduces abandonment rates, encourages exploration, builds trust, accommodates mobile users, facilitates efficient searching, supports filtering, improves engagement, and enhances accessibility.

In essence, it creates a user-friendly and enjoyable website experience, increasing the likelihood of conversions and fostering customer loyalty.

Here’s how you can get it right:

Intuitive Menu Design

Create a navigation menu that is not only visually appealing but also highly functional. Employ clear labels and consider incorporating mega menus for categories with a wide range of products. Implement adaptive menus that dynamically adjust based on user behaviour, preferences, and even seasonal promotions.

Search Functionality

Implement an advanced site-wide search bar that goes beyond simple keyword matching. Incorporate real-time suggestions, predictive search capabilities and natural language processing. Ensure it understands synonyms, typos, and offers auto-correction. Implement voice search for an even more convenient experience.

Filtering and Sorting Options

Empower users to refine product lists with granular filtering options. Provide filters for price ranges, sizes, colours, brands and customer ratings.

Implement dynamic filtering that updates in real time as users make selections. Offer customizable sorting options like relevance, price and customer ratings.

3: Increasing Efficiency and Quality of the Checkout Process

Efficient and high-quality checkout processes are essential for a seamless and satisfying customer experience.

A simplified and streamlined checkout reduces the risk of cart abandonment, as customers encounter fewer obstacles when completing their purchases. This step ensures that the final stages of the customer journey are smooth, intuitive and trustworthy, leading to increased conversions and improved overall satisfaction.

Streamline the checkout experience with:

Guest Checkout

Offer a seamless guest checkout option that requires minimal information. While guest checkout reduces friction, encourage account creation by highlighting the benefits, such as order tracking and exclusive offers.

Progress Indicators

Provide a clear, step-by-step checkout progress indicator. Visual representations help customers understand where they are in the process and what to expect next, reducing anxiety and uncertainty. Incorporate microinteractions and animations to make progress tracking engaging and intuitive.

Auto-Address Suggestions

Implement autofill functionality for address fields based on postal codes or zip codes. This feature minimises manual entry errors and speeds up the checkout process. Ensure that autofill suggestions are accurate and up-to-date by integrating with reliable address validation services.

Multiple Payment Options

Offer a variety of payment options, including credit cards, digital wallets and alternative payment methods like PayPal or cryptocurrency. This flexibility caters to diverse customer preferences and enhances convenience.

Secure and Seamless Payments

Ensure that your payment gateway is secure and offers seamless experiences like one-click payments and tokenization for returning customers. Consider implementing digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay for added security and convenience.

4: Boosting Site Personalisation

Boosting site personalisation is paramount for the customer experience because it transforms a generic online shopping journey into a tailored and engaging interaction.

By leveraging customer data and behaviour, businesses can offer product recommendations, content and promotions that resonate with individual preferences and needs. This level of personalisation not only streamlines the path to purchase, but also cultivates a deeper emotional connection between customers and brands.

Customers feel understood and valued, fostering loyalty and trust. It drives conversions, encourages upsells and optimises marketing efforts, ultimately ensuring that each visitor experiences a unique, satisfying and memorable journey on the website, significantly enhancing their overall satisfaction and loyalty to create a website that feels custom-made for each visitor.

User Profiles

Encourage customers to create profiles with preferences and wishlists. Leverage this information to curate product recommendations and content that align with individual tastes and interests. Implement a user-friendly profile dashboard where customers can easily manage their preferences and track their order history.

Behavioural Tracking

Monitor customer behaviour, including past purchases, product views and search history. Utilise this data to offer personalised product suggestions and special offers that resonate with each customer. Implement advanced algorithms that consider both short-term and long-term user behaviour patterns for more accurate recommendations.

Dynamic Content

Display dynamic content blocks that adapt based on user preferences and browsing history. Showcase recommended products, blog posts or promotions tailored to each customer’s unique interests. Use machine learning algorithms to predict the optimal timing and placement of dynamic content to maximise engagement.

Personalised Email Marketing

Extend personalisation beyond the website by customising email marketing campaigns based on user behaviour and engagement history. Implement email segmentation and dynamic content within emails to deliver highly relevant and timely messages. Utilise A/B testing to optimise email subject lines, content and calls to action based on individual preferences.

5: Harnessing Chatbots and AI for Support

Providing easy access to support and assistance is crucial for customer satisfaction. Here’s how to leverage chatbots and AI-driven support to enhance the customer experience:

24/7 Availability

Implement chatbots that offer around-the-clock support, answer common questions and provide assistance even when human agents are unavailable. This ensures that customers can find help whenever they need it. Use natural language processing (NLP) to make chatbot interactions feel more conversational and human-like.

FAQs and Troubleshooting

Use AI-powered chatbots to guide customers through troubleshooting processes or direct them to relevant FAQs and resources. This not only resolves issues efficiently but also empowers customers to find solutions independently. Implement a robust knowledge base with AI-driven search capabilities to enhance self-service support.

Order Status Updates

Enable customers to check their order status, track packages, and receive automated notifications for shipping updates through chatbots. This feature keeps customers informed and minimises inquiries about order progress. Implement proactive order status notifications to provide real-time updates on delivery dates and expected arrival times.

Incorporating these comprehensive strategies into your ecommerce website can make a significant difference in the overall customer experience. By optimising product pages, improving navigation, streamlining the checkout process, embracing site personalisation and providing easy access to support through chatbots and AI, you can create a website that not only attracts visitors but keeps them coming back for a seamless and satisfying shopping experience.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchesterecommerceagency #amazon #ebay

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Shopify’s blog setup and why it’s so critical to ecommerce success https://cspcommerce.com/shopify-blog-set-up-ecommerce-agency-guide/ Wed, 08 Mar 2023 15:20:19 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=20180 Shopify is a great ecommerce platform that many businesses thrive on but it is also a blogging platform that is designed to help you sell products and services. Despite this, a huge number of people do not use this powerful marketing resource to its full potential. This article will go through exactly how you can…

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Shopify is a great ecommerce platform that many businesses thrive on but it is also a blogging platform that is designed to help you sell products and services. Despite this, a huge number of people do not use this powerful marketing resource to its full potential. This article will go through exactly how you can create a blog on your Shopify store, and tell you the reasons why you should if you want your business to scale and grow.

So you have set up an ecommerce business on Shopify and it is doing relatively well. You are selling a fair number of products or services and you are happy with the progress you have made. Happy days. But the problem is you know you can do more. You know you can sell more products and you know that your business can grow and scale, but you aren’t sure how. You are doing well, but you want to sell more and do great. You want your store to do as well as some of the biggest online Shopify brands out there. Right?

Maybe you have tried paid advertising in the past, and although that did well once, you know that people are tired of constantly being bombarded with ads and on average it is 15 – 20% less effective than just a couple of years ago. Perhaps you have heard that content marketing is becoming increasingly essential for any online business, that you need content to increase SEO and adapt to new Google algorithm changes that evaluate a website’s usefulness to consumers. You may have even dipped your toe into content marketing by using social media to try and push your products and services or tried email marketing, the type of content that has one of the highest conversion rates for shopify stores. All of this is great, but if you are like a significant number of small to medium sized businesses you are completely ignoring one of the most powerful and cost effective marketing tools simply by not having a blog on your website.

What is a blog?

A blog is quite simply a website or a section of an online store that consists purely of content in the form of blog posts or articles. These articles are often less formal than resource or information pages and can cover a wide variety of topics that reach out to large audiences very quickly

Why is a blog important for ecommerce sites?

Apart from the fact that the biggest and most successful Shopify websites such as Gymshark or Pepsi all have blogs, which should tell you everything, there are plenty of reasons why blogging for businesses is essential.

  • A blog allows you to build a large, engaged audience.
    It reaches out to a wider audience than any other marketing method.
  • A blog is essential for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), boosting Domain Authority and website search rankings.
  • A blog turns your ecommerce website into a valuable resource for consumers, improving user experience and trust.
  • A blog helps establish your brand and build authority in your industry.
  • Blogs are one of the easiest ways to highlight and promote specific products or disseminate brand news and announcements to a captive audience.
  • Blog posts are vital for reaching a wide audience at every point of the customer journey and converting them into qualified leads.
  • Blog posts will continue to work for you from the day they are published, the more you publish the more you grow exponentially without any further spend.
  • Blogs are the most cost effective form of marketing there is.

A blog on your Shopify website gives your brand a professional, expert level of authority and builds that important relationship with your customers. It shows them you are serious about your business, that they can trust you, and that you are prepared to invest time and effort into being helpful and interesting for them before they even buy anything. That perception among potential customers is invaluable.

Building a blog is not always easy, they take time, effort and resources to maintain, but if you put that effort in, the benefits they bring are countless. A blog is a genuine long term investment in your business.

How to build a blog on your shopify store

Shopify makes it really easy to add a blog section to your website because the function is already built into the platform. All you have to do is simply go into your admin section and select the options that will lead to your blog section. Depending on your theme this may be labelled as news, and you can keep this label if it fits your brand better or change it to something that suits you, but it is essentially the same thing. Once you are ready to launch your blog, it is literally a case of publishing your first blog post.

So from a practical point of view launching your blog is easy, but there is so much more that goes into it if you want to ensure your blog is successful.

Knowing your audience

Knowing who your target audience is when writing your blog is absolutely essential. There is no point in writing some great content that might interest you, but will never be read by any of the people you want to sell your products or services to. You have to do research into who your audience is and build up different profiles of the exact type of customer you want to reach. This will help you understand them, understand their specific needs and understand what they want from your blog. When you understand this, you can tailor your content to fit their needs and interests.

Understanding your competitors

As well as understanding your customers, you also need to understand your competitors too. Performing a GAP analysis, or a competitor analysis on your direct competition allows you to assess their strategies, see what they are getting right, what they are getting wrong, if there are any gaps in the market you can exploit and what strategies you can improve on. If a direct competitor selling the exact same product as you is having great success with a specific audience, you may need to aim for that audience too. If they have cornered the market with a particular type of content, then you may need to find a way to use that type of content to reach your own customers, and vice versa, if your competitors have content that isn’t even ranking, find a way to beat them to the punch.

Getting ready for SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essential for any website to be successful, and that includes ecommerce stores. SEO is essentially the markers you put onto your website to tell the search engines where to rank it, and having a blog section is one of the easiest and best ways to do that, but first you need to make sure you have everything ready to be optimised and that your pages will be visible to search engines in the first place. Shopify does make this a little easier for you by having an ‘edit website SEO’ option for each page. This will prompt you to optimise the titles of each post, the meta description and the URL of each post. These are the basic starting blocks of on page SEO so it is important you get them right.

Make sure you have a great title for your post that takes into account keywords and phrases without keyword stuffing (you will need to do a lot of keyword research beforehand), one that captures the audience imagination, answers a direct question or solves a problem for the audience who will be searching Google for that topic, and finally a title that conveys a solid value proposition, and all of that within seven or eight words.

The meta description is the online equivalent of a book blurb, that little paragraph on the back that tells the reader what the book is about. The meta description should be short – the Google crawler ideal is around 130 characters long – and concise, have a great call to action or tell the reader what the exact value proposition of reading the post will be, and have just enough keywords in to tell search engines this post is what they should be putting in front of audiences for a variety of queries.

Simple, right?

Building and optimising SEO

To go in depth into building and optimising SEO for blog posts would truly take a lot more than one blog post to explain, but the very truncated version is that for every post you need to be putting in a lot of different signals that appease the search engines as well as making the user experience on your site better, offering true value to your readers and being a genuinely useful resource.

Put very simply the more useful the post is for its purpose the better, the length should match that purpose (are you trying to generate discussion, highlight a product, offer advice or answer a common question for example), the post should have a variety of internal links to build your UXP (user experience) and both outbound and inbound links that tell search engines that others find your site useful, and most f all be helpful, useful and well written. The rise of AI posts and hastily written content farms has meant that there is an ocean of bad content out there. You want your website to be an island of professional, well written prose in comparison.

How to organise your blog posts

User experience is key, and once you have them on your site you don’t want to put them off by making it difficult for them to find the content they are looking for. This is where a good blog menu, sub categories and a strong linking game is essential.

Choosing a blog type and length

Having a variety of blog post types and styles is really important too. A blog post – contrary to popular belief – is so much more than a simple short opinion piece that can be on any topic. Each post has to have intent, it has to have a clear purpose and it has to serve your audience needs, and there are a lot of ways to do that.

Writing a short post with around 300 words has for a long time been considered bad for SEO, but that isn’t true at all. SEO is about far more than the search engines, it is about the user experience too, and short blog posts like opinion pieces are fantastic for generating a lot of user engagement, or listicles for example are perfect for those short entertaining pieces your customers may read when scrolling through their phone on the morning commute.

But if your post needs to convey a lot of technical information or advice, a short 500 word post just isn’t going to cut that. You will need a bare minimum of a few thousand words to get that in depth information across and establish a serious level of authority in your industry. This length of post is far better suited to generating new search traffic too. At the same time it is impossible to maintain this level of post multiple times a week unless you have a dedicated in house team of writers and creators.

In the middle of those extremes there are average industry news posts, product showcases and articles that answer specific questions for example that can be anywhere between 500 and 1500 words long, which is the industry standard for magazine or newspaper type articles.

The truth is your blog should have a mixture of all of these different article types to capture as wide an audience as possible on different points of the customer journey, and they should all link into each other and pull people through the sales funnel.

Writing a blog post

Now it is time to start thinking about actually writing the posts that will go up on your site, and the first thing you should consider is who exactly will write it. Will you do it yourself? Do you have an in house team? Will you outsource it to freelance specialists or go for a cheap content farm?

The truth is writing is a skill, blog posts take time, effort and resources to produce and it is a false economy to put work out that is badly written or unprofessional. It is worth taking the time to get it right from the start or your brand – and your marketing efforts – will suffer as a result.

Consider the type of post

Once you have your expert team of writers and content creators in place, it is time to look at the type of content you want to produce. The topics themselves will need to be relevant to your brand, they will need to be tailored to your specific audience and you will need to shape them around your specific products and services.

The good news is beyond that there is a lot of flexibility in the type of content you create as well as the types of audience you can aim for.

You can make broadly appealing posts that are designed to appeal to a general audience, articles that really pinpoint very specific audiences and speak to them alone, or articles that may reach out to target demographics that you may not have ever marketed to before.

Your content obviously has to be on brand, but it can be formal in nature or it can be more lighthearted depending on the purpose of the post.

There are quite a few things to consider when planning your posts, which is why a content map and a marketing strategy is essential.

Consider your tone and branding

The tone of your blog should reflect your brand voice, and it is important that you get a consistent voice throughout every aspect of your website.

In very general terms blogs can often get away with being less formal than most other aspects of your website. They are not vehicles to hard sell products to customers, they are a place where you can communicate and engage with them, so do not be afraid to let some of your brand’s personality shine through. Of course you can still have a wide variety of posts where some may be slightly more formal than others, or some may be more lighthearted and friendly, it depends of course on the type of article, but the overall tone should always reflect your brand.

A funeral parlour’s website for example should exemplify sombre professionalism and empathy, it would be inappropriate to suddenly publish a joke filled post on the ten best ways to have fun at a funeral.

Consistency is important too, which is why it is important to have strong brand guidelines and a good editorial oversight if you are using a wide variety of creators to write your content for you. Websites that have a huge conveyor belt of rotating writers without this can be extremely jarring, as each post has an entirely different personality and your customers won’t know who or what your brand is.

How often should you publish blog posts?

Consistency isn’t just about the tone of your posts, it is also how often you should publish them.

The truth is there is no magic number here, and a lot depends on the industry you are in, the resources you have and the brand you want. In very general terms the more content you put out the better, but consistency and quality are far more important. If putting out too many articles a week means you are sacrificing on quality, don’t do that. It is far better to publish less and make sure each post is well written, well researched and well planned. The most important thing is consistency, it really doesn’t matter whether you produce 10 posts a week or just one, but it does matter that you publish every single week. Consistently. Search engines love websites that are producing new, fresh and regular content every week, they will crawl your site a lot more often and push you up the rankings more, your organic traffic will grow and your customers will keep coming back as they know exactly when you will have new content for them to read.

Remember, blogging is a long term strategy. You are in this for the long haul, so pace yourself.

The importance of a content strategy

Writing a few blog posts is only half of the solution, now you have to make sure you have a long term strategy in place. A content strategy is far more than just a simple calendar of when to publish blog posts, it is an expert plan that takes into account multi platform cross promotion, keyword research and SEO best practices, seasonal promotions, growing brand awareness, reaching specific audiences, reaching specific KPIs and even allowing for crisis management and other emergencies, just for starters.

The importance of a strategic plan for your blog over the long term cannot be stated strongly enough, and this is why you need to devote serious time and resources into it.

Watch your brand scale and grow

Now that your blog is set up and running you can build and scale your brand as your sales grow.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Shopify’s blog setup and why it’s so critical to ecommerce success appeared first on CSP Commerce.

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Make or break your ecommerce business with this non-negotiable https://cspcommerce.com/make-or-break-your-ecommerce-business-with-this-non-negotiable/ Tue, 14 Feb 2023 14:47:34 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=20104 Data, it really is everywhere. Whether it’s indicating how many spaces are left in England’s “smart” car parks or tracking at-risk snow leopards in Tajikistan, the use of data is prevalent in almost every domain of life these days. It might be complicated, but we should never shy away from its utility, especially when it comes…

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Data, it really is everywhere. Whether it’s indicating how many spaces are left in England’s “smart” car parks or tracking at-risk snow leopards in Tajikistan, the use of data is prevalent in almost every domain of life these days.

It might be complicated, but we should never shy away from its utility, especially when it comes to ecommerce.

Successful ecommerce efforts are almost always driven by businesses drawing on data properly.

Reliable data always features heavily in these case studies, having been captured by the right tools.

Ecommerce decisions should never be made upon assumptions. Instead, they should always be based on what the data tells us.

Your marketing, order management and supplier relationship should always champion data tools and the information they produce.

But what does this look like?

From GoogleAnalytics through to “purchase to return rate”, this blog will cover the key tools and metrics to look out for when navigating your ecommerce multichannel business to success.

Marketing tools and metrics

Marketing is one of the most data-intensive areas of ecommerce.

From analysing customer behaviour and demographics to measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, data is essential for developing effective marketing strategy.

Common marketing acquisition tools include Google Analytics, Facebook Business Data and Google’s AdWords.

These tools allow businesses to gain insights into customer behaviour and demographics, track website traffic, and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

By using data to gain insights into customer behaviour, ecommerce businesses can target their marketing efforts more effectively, resulting in higher conversion rates and increased sales.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the most widely used marketing acquisition tools and is an essential tool for ecommerce businesses. It provides a wealth of information about website traffic, including the number of visitors, where they come from, and how they interact with your website.

By tracking this data, businesses can identify trends and patterns that can inform marketing strategies, such as which pages are most popular, which products are most frequently viewed, and which marketing campaigns are most effective. Additionally, Google Analytics provides insights into customer behaviour, such as how long visitors stay on your website and which pages they view.

Updates have been rolled out to ensure that users have access to the latest and most advanced features. Google Data Studio, a powerful data visualisation tool, and Google Lighthouse, an automated web performance audit tool, are now available to all GA3 users. These tools allow businesses to better understand their data, identify trends and patterns, and make more informed decisions.

With GA4 just around the corner, there’s never been a better time to embrace the extensive tools on offer by tech giants Alphabet.

Meta Business

Meta Business is another important marketing tool for ecommerce businesses. It provides detailed information about your Facebook ads, such as the number of clicks, impressions and conversions. In addition, it allows you to segment data based on demographics, such as age and gender, which can inform marketing strategies. For example, if you notice that your ads are performing better with a certain demographic, you can target your marketing efforts more effectively to that group.

Google AdWords

Google AdWords is a popular marketing acquisition tool that allows businesses to track the performance of their Google ads. It provides detailed information about the number of clicks, impressions, and conversions, as well as data on the demographics of the people who click on your ads. This information can help businesses identify which ads are performing well, and which are not, so they can adjust their strategies accordingly.

Order management

Order management is another key area where data plays a crucial role. The power of data in OMS (order management system) allows businesses to track customer orders and analyse data.

This can help businesses optimise their processes to ensure that orders are fulfilled quickly and efficiently.

What’s more, data can be used to identify areas where businesses can improve their order management systems, such as reducing order processing times or improving inventory management.

When it comes to order management, the most important metrics to consider include:

Order fulfilment rate: The percentage of orders that are fulfilled on time and without errors. A high fulfilment rate indicates that the business is efficiently managing its inventory and shipping processes.

Order processing time: This metric measures the time it takes for an order to be processed, from the time the customer places the order to the time it is shipped. A low processing time indicates that the business is efficiently managing its order management processes.

Inventory turnover rate: The best way to find out how quickly a business is selling its inventory. A high turnover rate indicates that the business is effectively managing its inventory and selling its products at a good pace.

Shipping cost per order: This metric measures the average shipping cost per order. A low cost per order indicates that the business is effectively managing its shipping processes and minimising costs.

Purchase to return rate is another important metric to consider when it comes to order management. This metric measures the percentage of purchases that are returned by customers. A high return rate can indicate a variety of issues, such as poor product quality, inaccurate product descriptions, or a lack of customer satisfaction.

By monitoring this metric, ecommerce businesses can gain insight into the reasons for customer returns and take steps to address them. For example, if the high return rate is due to poor product quality, the business may need to improve its quality control processes or seek out new suppliers.

If the high return rate is due to inaccurate product descriptions, the business may need to improve its product listing or provide more detailed product information.

With the right OMS and technological integrations, your business can access all the insights essential to success and scalability.

Supplier relationships

Data is also vital for managing relationships with suppliers.

By keeping track of supplier performance and inventory levels, businesses can ensure that they have the right products in stock at the right time.

Data can help businesses identify areas where they can improve their supply chain processes, resulting in greater efficiency and cost savings.

Shipping management is one area where data can be particularly useful. By tracking shipping data, businesses can identify patterns in shipping times, delivery routes, and inventory levels. This can help businesses optimise their shipping processes to ensure that orders are delivered on time and at the lowest possible cost.

Data can also be used to identify potential shipping bottlenecks, such as ports that are frequently delayed, so that businesses can take action to avoid them.

Finally, reporting data is an important aspect of managing supplier relationships.

By generating detailed reports on supplier performance, businesses can identify areas where they need to improve, such as reducing lead times or improving inventory management. Data can also be used to identify opportunities for cost savings, such as negotiating better shipping rates or identifying new suppliers.

Harness data in 2023…

Data is essential for the success of ecommerce businesses and its importance for ecommerce businesses will continue to grow as new technology is rolled out in 2023.

By effectively managing and relying on data, businesses can gain valuable insights that drive marketing efforts, improve order efficiency, and optimise supplier relationships.

As your ecommerce business continues to grow and evolve, the utility of data will only increase… As a result, making data management an essential part of any ecommerce strategy will be essential to success..

With the right tools and a data-driven approach, businesses can turn data into a powerful competitive advantage.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Make or break your ecommerce business with this non-negotiable appeared first on CSP Commerce.

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Partner your way to success! https://cspcommerce.com/partner-your-way-to-success/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 13:18:55 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=19800 5 Reasons to Outsource your Ecommerce Marketing Small business owners often wear several hats: HR, Recruitment, Marketing, Sales and so on. But you know the old saying about being a ‘Jack of all Trades and Master of None’ … There’s some truth to it! What are the high value activities you should be focusing on…

The post Partner your way to success! appeared first on CSP Commerce.

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5 Reasons to Outsource your Ecommerce Marketing

Small business owners often wear several hats: HR, Recruitment, Marketing, Sales and so on. But you know the old saying about being a ‘Jack of all Trades and Master of None’ … There’s some truth to it!

What are the high value activities you should be focusing on and what could you be outsourcing?

Outsourcing some of your business operations is not without its risks or financial implications, but usually, when you hire an expert, you get access to skills and experience that are expensive to hire in-house. Here are five reasons you should consider hiring an expert and outsource Digital Marketing.

1. Specialist knowledge

Digital Marketing is a complicated business! Technology is constantly evolving. Remember the Nokia 6310 that was the bee’s knees when you got it? Well it wasn’t long before it was replaced with a newer, swankier model and your hot new technology suddenly became a thing of the past. It’s the same with Digital Marketing and keeping up with the latest advances across the many platforms takes a bit of work.

Marketing agencies know a thing or two about their industry. They live and breathe Marketing and their knowledge is unrivalled. Sometimes you just have to leave it to the experts!

2. Time savings

Is managing your company’s Marketing really the best use of your valuable time? Business owners often spend much of their day focusing on the operational and financial aspects of their business. After all, you might have great Marketing but if you don’t get the products out the door or ensure that revenue is collected, then what’s the point?

Getting bogged down by the intricacies of managing your Google, Amazon or other online ads can be distracting and take your attention away from more urgent matters. Ultimately this approach can end up costing your business more than an agency’s fees!

3. Ecommerce agencies succeed when you succeed

Marketing agencies offer varying pricing structures, from retainers to project-specific fees, to commission-based arrangements. Some agencies operate on a commission basis and only receive payment if your business does well. So, their success is entirely dependent on yours.

A set percentage commission structure is the simplest way to ensure that you only pay for successful outcomes. This ‘shared success’ style arrangement gives you the peace of mind that the agency has your business’ best interests at heart, not just their own.

Because performance based pricing models such as these do not incur a fixed cost, campaigns can grow or shrink according to the business requirements. While you may wonder why anyone would want to reduce or pause a campaign that is working well, consider how some businesses have grown significantly over the covid pandemic, forcing them to temporarily reduce sales while stock is replenished or backlogs of orders are cleared. A flexible model allows you to reduce or increase spend, and consequently, demand for your products, at times when the market peaks or dips, giving you full control over your costs and allowing you to control the demand for your products.

4. Ecommerce agencies have extensive experience

Any agency worth its salt has a team with years of experience under its belt. Can you honestly say the same for yourself? Rather than floundering around with systems which you aren’t familiar with, or muddling through because you think you’re saving yourself a few quid, remember that there are experts with substantial experience who can do all of that, and more, in a fraction of the time it will take you to do it yourself. Not only does it save you time, but it will be better quality and more cost-effective for your business.

5. Ecommerce agencies have other benefits

Ecommerce Agencies have access to all manner of skills, technologies and software which the average businesses could never justify purchasing themselves. While these programmes might not be cost-effective for an individual business to use, as an agency customer you can benefit from them without the associated subscription fees!

From specialist analytical software to copywriting talent, to industry insights and competitor research tools, agencies offer so much more than just ‘Marketing Management’. And you won’t get any of these benefits from the DIY approach.

So, if you’re struggling with your online Marketing, you’re using an agency that isn’t quite cutting the mustard, or you haven’t even started yet, why not have a call with one of our experts to discuss how Cloud Seller Pro’s service could benefit your business.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post Partner your way to success! appeared first on CSP Commerce.

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5 Reasons to outsource your Digital Advertising https://cspcommerce.com/5-reasons-to-outsource-your-digital-advertising/ https://cspcommerce.com/5-reasons-to-outsource-your-digital-advertising/#respond Thu, 17 Dec 2020 11:04:23 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=16558 Small business owners often wear several hats: HR, Recruitment, Marketing, Sales and so on. But you know the old saying about being a Jack of all trades and master of none? Sometimes it’s true! Outsourcing some of your business operations is not without its risks or financial implications, but usually, when you hire an expert,…

The post 5 Reasons to outsource your Digital Advertising appeared first on CSP Commerce.

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Small business owners often wear several hats: HR, Recruitment, Marketing, Sales and so on. But you know the old saying about being a Jack of all trades and master of none? Sometimes it’s true!

Outsourcing some of your business operations is not without its risks or financial implications, but usually, when you hire an expert, you get a top notch service. Here are five reasons you should consider hiring an expert for your digital advertising.

1. Specialist Knowledge

Digital advertising is a complicated business! Technology is constantly evolving. Remember the Nokia 6310 that was the bee’s knees when you got it? Well it wasn’t long before it was replaced with a newer, swankier model and your hot new technology suddenly became a thing of the past. It’s the same with digital advertising and keeping up with the latest advances across the many platforms takes a bit of work.

Advertising agencies know a thing or two about their industry. They live and breathe advertising and their knowledge is unrivaled. Sometimes you just have to leave it to the experts!

2. Time Savings

Is managing your company’s advertising really the best use of your valuable time? Business owners often spend much of their day focusing on the operational and financial aspects of their business. After all, you might have great advertising but if you don’t get the products out the door or ensure that revenue is collected, then what’s the point?

Getting bogged down by the intricacies of managing your Google, Amazon or other online ads can be distracting and take your attention away from more urgent matters. Ultimately this approach can end up costing your business more than an agency’s fees!

3. Ecommerce Agencies succeed when you succeed

Advertising agencies offer varying pricing structures, from retainers to project-specific fees to commission-based arrangements. Agencies operate on a commission basis and only receive payment if your business does well. So, their success is entirely dependent on yours.

A set percentage commission structure is the simplest way to ensure that you only pay for successful outcomes. This ‘no win no fee’ style arrangement gives you the peace of mind that the agency has your business’ best interests at heart, not their own.

Because performanced based pricing models such as these do not incur a fixed cost, campaigns can grow or shrink according to the business requirements. While you may wonder why anyone would want to reduce or pause a campaign that is working well, consider how some businesses have grown significantly over the covid pandemic, forcing them to temporarily reduce sales while stock is replenished or backlogs of orders are cleared. A flexible model allows you to reduce or increase spend, and consequently, demand for your products, at times when the market peaks or dips, giving you full control over your costs and allowing you to control the demand for your products.

4. Agencies have extensive experience

Any agency worth its salt has a team with years of experience under its belt. Can you honestly say the same for yourself? Rather than floundering around with systems which you aren’t familiar with, or muddling through because you think you’re saving yourself a few quid, remember that there are experts with substantial experience who can do all of that, and more, in a fraction of the time it will take you to do it yourself. Not only does it save you time, but it will be better quality advertising and more cost-effective for your business.

5. Digital Ecommerce Agencies have other benefits

Agencies have access to all manner of skills, technologies and software which the average businesses could never justify purchasing themselves. While these programmes might not be cost-effective for an individual business to use, as an agency customer you can benefit from them without the associated subscription fees!

From specialist analytical software to copywriting talent, to industry insights and competitor research tools, agencies offer so much more than just ‘advertising management’. And you won’t get any of these benefits from the DIY approach.

So, if you’re struggling with your online advertising, you’re using an agency that isn’t quite cutting the mustard, or you haven’t even started yet, why not have a call with one of our experts to discuss how Cloud Seller Pro’s payment by results service could benefit your business.

With Cloud Seller Pro, there is no contract, no set-up fee, no minimum spend and your ads could be live in just 7 days!

Call 01524 230 251 or get in touch via our website.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

The post 5 Reasons to outsource your Digital Advertising appeared first on CSP Commerce.

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Black Friday 2020 – Top Tips https://cspcommerce.com/black-friday-2020-top-tips/ https://cspcommerce.com/black-friday-2020-top-tips/#respond Wed, 14 Oct 2020 14:14:42 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=16115 Make the most of Black Friday: top tips for eCommerce Retailers It has been a turbulent year for retail, with no clear sign of normality on the horizon. With the biggest shopping event of the year just weeks away, November 27th to be exact, this year’s discount retail extravaganza is set to be the busiest…

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Make the most of Black Friday: top tips for eCommerce Retailers

It has been a turbulent year for retail, with no clear sign of normality on the horizon. With the biggest shopping event of the year just weeks away, November 27th to be exact, this year’s discount retail extravaganza is set to be the busiest on record. Covid-19 restrictions will force many to buy online on Black Friday (and Cyber Monday just 3 days later), and with the additional threat of high street Christmas shopping restrictions, it’s reported that many of us are already buying gifts in the event of a festive lockdown.

So, what does this mean for your business? At Cloud Commerce Group, we know a thing or two about eCommerce, so we’ve pulled together our top tips to help you make the most of Black Friday this year.

Be Visible
Whether you are an experienced eCommerce player, or you’re new to the online marketplace, if your customers can’t find your products easily, you run the risk of losing out to your competitors. Making sure you are advertising in the right place, and at the right time, is key.

The days are numbered for the single-marketplace retailer. If you’re an eBay maestro, but haven’t tried Amazon yet, or you’re an Etsy overlord who hasn’t mastered Shopify, you may want to consider venturing into the deep unknown. Widening your net makes sense if you want to grow your business – multi-channel eCommerce is where it’s at.

Be Clever
Listing your product is an obvious step towards eCommerce glory, but content is king. Think about what sets your product apart from that of your competitors and make it clear by listing the product’s attributes, features and benefits. Or, if you are selling a common product, make yours stand out with a compelling call to action, or CTA as we like to call it. You can even tinker with your visible stock availability to create a sense of urgency!

Be Prepared
It might be a few weeks away, but shoppers are already gearing up for grabbing those deals, you only have to look at Twitter to see how many people are tweeting about it. Now is the time to prepare your listings, automate as many processes as possible, and start some teaser campaigns to get that Black Friday ball rolling. Remember, proper planning and preparation prevents poor performance!

Stock Up!
You can’t sell what you don’t have – unless you’re a drop-shipper of course! Make sure your stock levels are primed and ready for the increased demand. If you’re a multi-channel retailer who manages your accounts manually, this of course means deciding how many units to list on each marketplace so that you don’t oversell. And, almost as importantly, make sure you have sufficient stock of labels and packaging because you can’t deliver what you can’t ship!

These tips just scratch the surface, there is so much more that goes into running a successful eCommerce business and making the most of large-scale events like Black Friday. For example, listing and relisting onto multiple platforms and how to manage your stock when it could sell on any marketplace, at any time. And what about managing customer messaging from different marketplaces? That’s a whole other headache without the right tools.

Let’s just say your listings are on point, your shelves are full of stock, and you sell out over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period. That’s great, at least until you realise you have to pick, pack and ship these orders immediately in order to keep this abundance of customers happy. Then what? This could be the point when it all goes a bit sideways.

That’s where we come in! Cloud Commerce Group’s suite of eCommerce solutions resolve all of these issues, and then some. What’s more, we’re also specialists in Google and Amazon advertising so once your listings are in tip top condition, your stock is managed, your shipping is just a click away and your messaging is on point, we’ll help you find customers and drive them to your listings.

To find out more, select the option which most represents your situation:

Option 1: I want to sell on Amazon and Google Shopping but need some help.
Option 2: I need software to help me manage my multi-channel eCommerce business.
Option 3: I need a fully managed multi-channel eCommerce system with warehouse management and reporting.

Not sure which option to choose? No problem! Call 01524 230 251 to speak to a member of our team.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

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Google Shopping Campaign Structure https://cspcommerce.com/google-shopping-campaign-structure/ https://cspcommerce.com/google-shopping-campaign-structure/#respond Tue, 27 Aug 2019 13:52:26 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=1610 In the fourth and final part of our Complete Guide to Google Shopping, we take you through building your campaign, handling bid management, and how to make promotions, reviews, and more work for you. Campaign Structure Google Shopping campaigns can be extremely flexible in how you set them up, but the trade-off is that they’ll…

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In the fourth and final part of our Complete Guide to Google Shopping, we take you through building your campaign, handling bid management, and how to make promotions, reviews, and more work for you.

Carefully designed Google Shopping campaign structures will bring in high volumes of clicks for a low cost per click.

Campaign Structure

Google Shopping campaigns can be extremely flexible in how you set them up, but the trade-off is that they’ll take more time to manage the more complex your campaign structure.

Many bid management and promotional options can be managed at any level down to the individual SKU, the overall campaign structure is built around ad groups. An ad group is simply a collection of one or more product listings.

You can set up a campaign with all products in a single ad group, if you prefer. For some businesses, especially small businesses, this is all they have time to do. (For growing businesses, adjusting this is one of the reasons to hire outside experts to manage their feed.)

Obviously, if all of your products are in the same ad group, you won’t be able to take advantage of any Google Shopping option using settings that affect your campaign at the ad group level. However, if your time is limited, it can be the only option available to you.

A single ad group will collect click data much faster, as all of the spending from your budget is being used in the same ad group. You also don’t need to worry about making sure the budget isn’t entirely gone before it reaches some groups.

However, having your campaign broken down into smaller ad groups allows for a lot of advantages, especially if your product catalogue includes several hundred or even thousands of products.

Notably, you’ll find it much easier to identify and deal with poorly performing products when you only have to navigate through a compact ad group. Ad groups with thousands of products also risk some of the products in the group never receiving exposure, and never getting the data you need to start optimising them.

But for all the arguments in favour of multiple ad groups, the next question is obvious:

How should you break down your product range into ad groups?

There are a lot of different strategies. It’s down to you to decide which is best for you – and which you have time to set up and maintain. Your campaign can’t help you if you don’t get it live, after all.

Campaign Priorities

Campaigns can be set at one of three priority levels; High, Medium, or Low.

These priorities tell the Google Shopping systems which of your campaigns are most important to you. If a search could trigger ads from an entry in a High priority campaign and one in a Medium priority campaign, Google Shopping will check the High priority searches, find one there, and use that. It only moves down to Medium if either there’s no appropriate High priority entry or if the High campaign has used all of its budget.

However, products in Low priority campaigns still have a chance to feature if no High or Medium campaign has an appropriate bid. This is where Negative Keywords come in.

Let’s look at an example. Consider an electronics company looking to improve its TV sales through a Google Shopping campaign.

The company has a number of options here. Because High is checked before Medium and Medium before Low, you can assign Negative Keywords to the higher priorities and use them for lower-bid, more generic competition. The Negative Keywords prevent these ads for bidding on branded higher-intent searches. Those higher intent searches can be set for higher bids, controlling the priority market.

They might also want to include screen sizes as ‘brands’ in the same way, screening out queries for larger screens with Negative Keywords to drive targeted queries toward higher bids more likely to convert.

(And remember, search terms that absolutely won’t convert can be set as Negative Keywords for every campaign. Don’t spend on terms you can’t get a return on.)

Whatever characteristic drives the majority of your business’ sales can be marked out for stronger support using this method. This is the one we most recommend, assuming you have the free time to devote to setting it up and maintaining it.

Alternatively, our hypothetical TV retailer could group televisions that perform better (high margin, best-selling, or both) together and set their ads as higher priority than the rest of its stock. This means they’re much more likely to be promoting high-return products. They’d expect a higher ROAS than if they were dedicating equal weight to every product.

Bear in mind that just having a better margin on a given TV doesn’t automatically make it the right choice for your advertising budget. Users may still shop around and go for a different product if it’s cheaper, on sale, or otherwise grabs their attention. A higher conversion rate is usually going to be more effective.

That electronics company would have similar campaign models running for DVD players, printers, digital cameras, etc. Each of these product types might have a different approach, depending on what works well for that ad group.

Because there are three levels, you can even combine these strategies. If you set your high-intend branded searches to Low and keep your general searches to Medium, you have room to create short-term Promotional campaigns at High priority, where you can push more of your advertising budget at sale products – as the special offers make these more likely to be discounted. But take care when you do this – make sure your maximum bids on sale items aren’t high enough to turn a profitable sale into a loss!

Bid management is its own complex subject, which we’ll cover in the next instalment of this guide.

Bid Management

Before you get any further into bid management, it’s vital you understand the concept of ‘max CPC’.

This is defined as the most you can pay for each click, based on the profit you make per unit and the product’s conversion rate – the proportion of visitors to that product page who buy one.

Calculating Max CPC

A product’s max CPC can be calculated by multiply its net profit by conversion rate.

If you’re selling something where you make £5 of net profit each sale, but you only sell to one in every twenty visitors (a 5% conversion rate), your max CPC would be:

£5 x 0.05 = £0.25

You’ll break even on sales so long as your bid is no higher than 25p. If your bid is lower, you’ll make at least some profit per sale.

Bidding at max CPC can be a positive in the long run, as some proportion of your customers will become return customers. But is that the best strategy? Almost certainly not.

Understanding Bid Management

You’ll probably want to start with bids somewhere between half and three-quarters of your Max CPC. Keep in mind, this is just a starting point.

Individual products will have greater success at different bids; early on, experimentation is important. Even once you’ve settled on a strategy for a given product, shifting markets mean that adjustments will still be needed.

If you’re lucky enough to have access to someone with Google Shopping experience (or even a dedicated team), initial bid optimisation will be completed much faster and you’ll start seeing better ad performance earlier.

However, bid management isn’t a one-and-done process; you’ll want to monitor your campaigns regularly. Dozens of different factors can affect how effective your bids are. A few of the biggest factors include:

  • A new competitor joining the field/an established competitor going bust
  • A major celebrity endorsement for a specific product
  • Seasonal shifts in interest (for example, the gourmet chocolate market sees major bumps in December and early February)
  • New fashion trends

Almost all of these represent opportunities to capture a wider market at the cost of increased ad spend. Quite often, that increased spend should be accompanied by a higher maximum bid, to ensure you feature in more generic searches.

Smaller factors aren’t necessarily opportunities on the same scale, but they can still mean that what had been a great bid price isn’t so helpful anymore.

Once your Google Shopping campaign structure is in place, your daily budget will be the fuel that drives the engine - so plan your structure with budget in mind.

Daily Budget

As well as a maximum bid per click, you can also set a daily budget for your marketing. Usually, the starting daily budget will be quite low relative to your company’s cashflow; as the campaign becomes more successful, though, your daily ad spend is likely to increase to drive more customers.

Don’t be too worried if you don’t spend your entire daily budget early on. Remember, you’re only charged when someone actually clicks through from one of your adverts, and early on, Google won’t feature your adverts as often – but as time goes by and their conversion rate is established, they’ll be seen more often.

To keep the example simple, let’s imagine all of your ad bids when you launch the campaign are exactly 50p and your starting daily budget is £10. Google Shopping therefore knows that you can afford 20 clicks during the day and then your budget is gone.

Google Shopping will take that 20 click per day rate and, based on what it knows about the rate people search for related keywords, the number of those keywords, the number of competitors, and those competitors’ click per day rate, Google Shopping will attempt to give you 20 clicks spread out evenly across a full 24-hour period.

Check Early, Check Often

At the moment you launch your campaign, you should be planning your next check on bids. If you’re under-bidding, your campaign is probably under-performing – and beginning to nudge the cost of your bids up, a very little at a time, is essential to get the ball rolling.

On the other hand, you might also be paying over the odds. You don’t want to be spending more than you should be for long.

Two or three weekdays is enough to get a sense of whether your adjustment has begun to work. Don’t trust weekends at first – they usually have different buying patterns to weekdays anyway. After you’ve been running your campaigns long enough, you should get a sense of how weekends affect the data. Before then, using weekend data can cause trouble for later.

Once you’re satisfied that your feed is performing well, you can check less often, though we still recommend a weekly check-in. Hopefully, you’ll find that you’re only having to adjust a few bids at a time.

Bid Strategies

Obviously, what counts as a low bid and a high bid varies by product and market. A new fridge probably costs more per click than a cool sleeve for soft drink cans, and you could easily find that the cost difference between two similar products you carry is wide enough to pay attention to.

But with that said, there are reasons you might go for low or high bids on a given product.

Why Use High Bids?

High bids have a greater chance of being shown against broader keywords – ‘trainers’ rather than ‘Reebok Club C Vintage’ – which makes them useful when you want to catch potential customers early in their decision-making process. You’ll also see the benefit of high bids if you’re launching a new product which won’t receive many detailed searches and needs the exposure.

Both of these options reduce ROAS (return on ad spend) in order to gather a broader market share instead.

You might also find that your product is one where a high-competition keyword has a stronger conversion rate. If that’s true, it could be worth pushing a higher bid to beat out the competition.

The Strengths of Low Bids

The most obvious advantage to low bids is that you’ll be able to buy more clicks for the same budget, which means more traffic and (usually) more conversions.

However, the other advantage of low bids is that they tend to show up for long-tail keyword searches, which are lower competition – but which often have a higher conversion rate.

If you’re currently satisfied with the amount of market share you already have, focusing on low bids can be a powerful high-return strategy.

How Do You Decide Which is Better?

Whether a high-bid or low-bid strategy is better genuinely can vary even between two products in the same range. It can also change over time as the market adjusts.

Your first priority is to start getting clicks. From that point on, you’ll get more data to work with.

If your product is getting sales from clicks, it’s worth trialling a slightly higher bid. If sales go up significantly, you’re visible on better performing keywords and can sell more.

If you’re getting clicks but not sales, there are two possibilities. Either something is stopping buyers from biting or you’re showing up for high-cost, low-conversion keywords. Check your feed – are you optimised for the right searches?

Check your competition, too, especially if performance has dropped without changing your price. Maybe competition has increased. Maybe a short-term promotion is going to own the market until it ends.

Spend some time moving incrementally toward your highest return. If lowering the price doesn’t improve performance, raise it, then wait and see. Eventually you’ll home in on a high-performance bid.

From there you can decide whether to move toward a low bid or high bid strategy.

Ad Extensions

The two most notable ad extensions currently available are Promotions and Reviews. These are inserted into the relevant ads when displayed, provided that you’ve taken the time to set them up.

Promotions

To be able to list promotions on your Google Shopping ads, you’ll need to start by submitting Google’s Product Ratings Interest Form.

Once you’ve done that, Google will contact you to go over their requirements. Shortly after that, you’ll be able to start setting up promotions as appropriate.

Promotions are split into two main types:

  • Promotional Text
  • Promotional Feeds/Special Offers

Promotional Text is applied across an entire ad group rather than on a product by product basis. It’s also not displayed immediately. Instead, it appears as a text box when the cursor hovers over an applicable advert.

You can add this content at the ad group level, and have 45 characters to use for your promotion. One of the most common uses is to promote free shipping, though Google requires that a promo code or similar ‘promotional’ element is used to advertise free shipping – if it comes as standard, it’s not a promotion.

Traditional marketing has often seen companies promote themselves by saying ‘we don’t do deals, our prices are always fantastic’. But there’s no place to put that information in a Google Shopping ad – these ads talk up the product more than the company.

Promotional Feeds require another form – the Merchant Promotions Interest Form. You can also contact a Google Ads rep directly, asking to be whitelisted for promotions.

Once you’re whitelisted, there are two ways to set up a promotional feed.

To add a few at a time, it’s usually quickest to use Promotions in Google Merchant Center. A large number, on the other hand, should be built in a spreadsheet and imported with the Data Feed tool.

Reviews

There are three ways to add reviews to your Shopping Feed.

You can:

  • Upload your own reviews feed
  • Set up Google Customer Reviews
  • Use a Reviews Aggregator

Reviews Feed Upload

You will need a minimum of 50 total reviews across your products. Uploading your feed is made simple via your Merchant Center account.

Google Customer Reviews

Google customer reviews are a great way to increase customer trust and build your brand.
Best of all, Google Reviews are free.

Participating in the Google Customer Reviews service is free and simple. You just need to add a line of code to enable customers to review you, which they do from your checkout page.

Reviews Aggregator

Google can integrate with a number of the major thirty party reviews tools and ratings aggregators. You can set it up to display your ratings in the traditional 5-star system with a total review count.

Reviews will not be displayed unless there are at least three reviews for the product.

Remarketing

Remarketing is one of the major advances that digital marketing has over traditional marketing. At the heart of remarketing is a simple concept: Some user groups are more likely to convert than others.

We’ve already looked at how different search terms indicate how far a user is along the customer journey. As part of that, we considered how long-tail search terms are much more likely to convert than a typical short-tail keyword.

Those ideas look at individual users and individual searches, and how likely each one is to result in a sale. Remarketing instead looks at groups of users.

Given a choice between a new shop and one they’ve used before, all other things being equal, most shoppers will go back to the familiar shop (unless its service was astonishingly bad). Many businesses, online and off, owe their survival and success to fostering return customers.

Remarketing allows you to specifically target people who’ve already shopped with you when they search for a product you offer. This way you can even draw in return customers who didn’t know you also offer this new product. With two successful shopping experiences, they become even more likely to return again.

You can also target visitors who nearly became customers.  It’s common to see online shoppers add products to their basket, then not finalise the sale.

You can probably think of half a dozen or so reasons they might do this. Maybe they got distracted or called away. Maybe they checked their finances and decided to wait until payday. Maybe they were waiting to hear from a friend before placing a joint order. (And maybe your site’s checkout process is frustrating or complicated. If your cart abandonment rate is high, look into this.)

Abandoned shopping carts represent money left on the table. Remarketing campaigns can focus on this group of potential customers, too.

Another common remarketing tactic involves targeting visitors who viewed a specific product’s page but didn’t go further. Some of these visitors will have decided not to buy – others may have hesitated. A well-placed advert can get conversions from both those who hesitated and those who originally decided against. After all, advertising is designed to change people’s minds!

There are plenty of firms out there offering remarketing services. Facebook are famous for it. We recommend balancing your remarketing budget across multiple services. And one of those, if you can, should be Google Shopping.

To be enrolled in the system, you’ll need to contact a Google Ads rep.

If you’re on Google Analytics, you can enable remarketing through there (though your Analytics code on your website may need to be updated.)

From that point on, you’ll be able to build lists – these are basically user groups we’ve mentioned.

You can set up a lot of different potential lists. In the same way that a well-segmented mailing list makes for higher conversion rates and less friction with customers, your remarketing lists can be customised to allow you to target groups of customers very accurately. These lists are known as Remarketing List Search Ads, or RLSAs.

There’s also a special list type now available from Google – Similar Audiences. This can be applied to any of your existing lists to produce a new group of people whose search behaviour resembles them.

While they don’t necessarily feel the same strong connection as your own lists, the behavioural similarities mark them out as a group that’s more likely to convert than the average. Bidding higher for them is a strategy that’s likely to pay off.

However, you should remember that the theory behind Remarketing bidding is the same as all other Google Shopping ads. There will be an optimal bid value for your products for these lists. Testing will show you whether higher bids or lower work better for you.

Making Google Shopping Work for You

As we hope we’ve shown, Google Shopping has a lot of moving parts to manage, but if you can keep up with it, your effort will really pay off. The basic principles are simple, but they take practice before you can really start making the most of them.

They also take a long time – much more than you might expect. We recognise that there’s a lot of work to be done here, and all of it is work going on alongside the running of your business.

In other words, you need to find time for this that isn’t being used on supply chain management, accounts records, warehouse management, shipping & dispatch and more.

This is where we invite you to consider Cloud Commerce Pro. Our system is designed to connect seamlessly with your own existing platforms, providing a central records and administration system. We also automate many of the essential processes in running an e-commerce company.

Cloud Commerce Pro was designed as a multi-channel order management service, so your online storefront, an Amazon Seller page, and more can all be handled from within the same interface, with stock automatically updating across channels.

Because we’re cloud-operated, you can access and interact with this system from anywhere in the world. And because we listen to our customers, the system is highly flexible. Your Cloud Commerce Pro account can be customised to do exactly what you need it to.

Get in touch today and ask us how we can improve and streamline your systems to make Amazon work for you.

 

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

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Get the Most Out of Analytics Referrals: Payment Gateway Verification https://cspcommerce.com/analytics-referrals/ https://cspcommerce.com/analytics-referrals/#respond Fri, 16 Aug 2019 10:43:51 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=1575 Your Google Analytics is one of the best tools you have for improving your eCommerce performance. Among many other things, it can: Identify which promotional campaigns are bringing in the most customers. Track the sources of visitors coming in from other routes. Pinpoint which pages cause visitors to lose interest. Identify other ‘pain points’ in…

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Your Google Analytics is one of the best tools you have for improving your eCommerce performance. Among many other things, it can:

  • Identify which promotional campaigns are bringing in the most customers.
  • Track the sources of visitors coming in from other routes.
  • Pinpoint which pages cause visitors to lose interest.
  • Identify other ‘pain points’ in the process where potential customers are lost.

You get to review the entire customer journey, from the first visit to the purchase, and see exactly what’s holding up each one.

This is an incredibly powerful tool, and how to use every aspect of it to full capacity isn’t something we can cover in this blog post. Honestly, it’s not something we could cover in any one blog post! But lately, payment gateway verification has begun to affect your Analytics’ effectiveness.

What’s changed?

Payment Gateway Changes

Upcoming EU legislation requires stronger authentication for payments to reduce eCommerce fraud. We reported on the SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) legislation back in June – in a round-up of stories mostly covering future market changes that our customers might need to prepare for.

The SCA was due to go live on September 14th, but the UK’s FCA has agreed an 18-month extension. This follows an EU ruling stating that individual countries may allow delays if the majority of eCommerce businesses aren’t prepared yet.

(If you trade with Europe, you may still want to get ready faster – not all nations are delaying, and others may not delay as long.)

As part of preparations for this, the payments industry has begun stronger verification procedures. You’ve almost certainly noticed this if you shop online – many websites are already referring you to another site. You may even have to log in, click an agreement, or both.

So What?

This affects last-click tracking – which is actually a known problem; it’s just been an obscure problem until recently.

Tracking here is attribution tracking. Analytics attributes each purchase to one or more times the customer visited your site. Last-click means the emphasis is put on the last time that visitor came to the site. First-click tracking is an alternative; that marks how the customer first found your site as most important.

There are also other models which put different weights on different parts of the process. However, many businesses use last-click tracking, as that final visit was the one with the customer decision.

But when you’re referred out to a payment site, then sent back, that becomes the last click. Which can affect attribution tracking.

If you’ve ever gone through Analytics’ Source/Medium report and wondered why you were getting so many referrals from paypal.com, sagepay.com, barclaycard.co.uk, payments.amazon.co.uk, or similar URLs, this is why.

If you have arcot.com as a major referral source, the same thing’s going on – Arcot Systems hold a number of authentication patents.

To avoid this, and make sure your referrals are showing you what they should, you need to exclude these payment gateways from your referrals.

Excluding Referrals in Google Analytics

First, the good news; if your Google Shopping ad campaigns are managed by Cloud Seller Pro we do this for you as part of monitoring your results.

If you’re not currently a customer, though, you can use Referral Exclusions.

First, spend some time going through your Source/Medium report. Get a full record of all referral URLs that are suspect. As well as the ones listed above and other popular payment card sites, look for URLs with ‘secure’ in the name.

If there are any URLs you’re not sure about, try visiting the website! If it doesn’t have any publicly viewable pages, it’s not actually referring visitors – so it should be excluded. If it looks like a payment gateway site, you know what you’re dealing with.

But if it’s any other kind of business, then you probably have a legitimate referral.

Once you have this list, navigate to the Admin tab. Select Tracking Info for your site’s Property. Then select Referral Exclusion List. The Add Referral Exclusion button makes the process simple.

What makes this work is that it prevents the referral from starting a new ‘session’ for Analytics purposes – so long as there’s already an active ‘session’ for your page. And there should be – you just placed an order.

Keep in mind, this is an ongoing shift. You’ll need to check your referrals regularly to make sure your data isn’t been degraded.

To join Cloud Seller Pro’s Partner Program and benefit from our Google Shopping expertise (and to make sure this is handled for you), just get in touch.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

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What is Remarketing? https://cspcommerce.com/what-is-remarketing/ https://cspcommerce.com/what-is-remarketing/#respond Tue, 16 Jul 2019 15:06:07 +0000 http://cspcommerce.com/?p=1505 Remarketing services allow you to reach out to ‘almost’ customers. These include: People who visited your site, checked several pages, but didn’t buy. People who went as far as adding products to their cart, but didn’t check out. People who used a free trial of your service or sent off for a free sample but…

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What is remarketing? It's a fundamental building block of modern digital marketing.

Remarketing services allow you to reach out to ‘almost’ customers. These include:

  • People who visited your site, checked several pages, but didn’t buy.
  • People who went as far as adding products to their cart, but didn’t check out.
  • People who used a free trial of your service or sent off for a free sample but didn’t sign up.

Why Remarket?

They’re often considered high priorities for marketing, as they’ve already shown interest once.

It’s a safe bet that they want a product like yours. Your goal is to convince them to buy from you and not your competition. If you can be at the front of their mind when they make their decision, you’re likely to get the sale. And remarketing is a great way to do that.

What is Dynamic Remarketing?

Most likely, you’ve already seen the effects of remarketing. Have you ever clicked away from a product page on an eCommerce site, only to find that when you glance through your social media, you can see a picture of that product and a link to the site? That’s remarketing.

Emails from a company alerting you to your full but unpurchased shopping cart are also remarketing.

Those examples aren’t just remarketing; they’re dynamic remarketing. The difference is the extra personalisation of showing you the product you were interested in. Regular remarketing just advertises the site you’d been visiting.

The two biggest players in the remarketing world are Google and Facebook (especially if you include Instagram with its parent company).

Close the Sale

Remarketing is a cost-effective way to close sales. The vast majority of the leads targeted are high-intent shoppers. It’s just a question of short-circuiting the decision process by giving them another chance to make an impulse buy.

Why spend money on that? Well, to get there before anyone else they may have been looking at beats you to it.

Cloud Seller Pro can handle your remarketing in line with your Google or Amazon marketing. To learn more, please contact us here.

CSP Commerce | Manchester Ecommerce and Shopify Agency

From brand through to demand, we support and manage ecommerce growth at each stage of the commerce journey.  Our extensive knowledge and experience in ecommerce have established us as industry leaders for our capabilities in performance marketing, marketplace management, social commerce, and Shopify, Shopify Plus and WooCommerce web development.
We’re a Manchester ecommerce agency that works with retailers as committed to growth as we are. Our performance and platform-first approach is tailored to the ambitious brands and online retailers we partner with. As part of Wunderman Thompson Commerce, we are uniquely positioned to support businesses to scale nationally to globally.
We’ll hand-select a team of specialists to work with clients and operate as an extension of their ecommerce department. We are accountable for delivering measurable results that grow reach and revenue. Together, we will work to scale and sell your products across online channels.
If you’re serious about growth then start your journey with us. Let’s succeed and scale together.

Why not visit us in person?

WPP Manchester Campus,
1 New Quay Street,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M3 4BN.
#shopifyagency #shopifyplus #manchester #ecommerceagency #ecommercegrowth #marketplacemanagement #performancemarketing #googleads #socialcommerce #manchestershopifyagency #amazon #ebay

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