{"id":149,"date":"2016-12-14T10:36:56","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T07:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rees46.com\/blog-en\/?p=149"},"modified":"2016-12-14T18:31:39","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T15:31:39","slug":"7-ecommerce-marketing-pitfalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rees46.com\/blog-en\/2016\/12\/14\/7-ecommerce-marketing-pitfalls\/","title":{"rendered":"7 eCommerce Marketing PitFalls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having an ecommerce marketing strategy seems so easy on paper. People want your product. You sell that product. It\u2019s a matter of connecting the two sides. Where can you go wrong, right? Sadly, it\u2019s a bit more complicated than that. How many times have you wondered what you did wrong or which is the right way to go?<\/p>\n

The next time you find yourself struggling to find the right solution, stop and look at the most common mistakes other people make in this field and learn from their experience.<\/p>\n

This article may not give you a \u201cone-size fits all\u201d path to success but it will certainly highlight the 7 spots you don\u2019t ever want to hit on your way up.<\/p>\n

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Mistake #1. Poorly Designed Category Pages<\/h3>\n

A typical category page is the front of you product summary cards – each with a thumbnail and description. Which one is more important, do you think? The answer is a no-brainer – it depends on the type of item.<\/p>\n

Take a look at this explanatory screenshot from a Nielsen Group research<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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On the left is PotteryBarn and on the right – Amazon. Research results show that PotteryBarn visitors pay more attention to the thumbnails. On Amazon only 18% of the visitors pay attention to thumbnails and the rest 82% focus on the product description.<\/p>\n

You may ask why that is. Take a closer look! While thumbnails with TVs are not representative and do not display any settings around the item, PotteryBarn thumbnails are vivid and palatable <\/em>for the eye.<\/p>\n

Consequently, <\/strong>it\u2019s better to see a product in an attractive setting than read a description a dozen times. That applies when products in the given category are distinctively different from each other and have a simple function.<\/p>\n

When products are multifunctional and look similar, you should make your summary cards more informative: include main parameters and product ratings under the item alongside a short description.<\/p>\n

Mistake #2. Inadequate Thumbnail Size<\/h3>\n

Thumbnails in your catalog catch the attention of your visitor\u2026 or chase them away when the picture is too small.<\/p>\n

Of course, a lot of items don\u2019t need big pictures. For instance, take a look at this screenshot of a Sports category – it\u2019s hard to mistake one item with another or fail to spot it.<\/p>\n

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Now let\u2019s take a look at another product category of the same online store. Can you see this maraschino dress and decide if you want to spend time looking for the details?<\/p>\n

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A recent tendency in online fashion retailers is to use authoritative thumbnails with big eye-catching pictures to reinforce the value and benefits of each item.<\/p>\n

Look at how successful fashion retailer Mango does it:<\/p>\n

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Consequently,<\/strong> it\u2019s always better to use detailed close-up shots of the product if its looks are its main asset. Being a living example of the latest successful trends in eCommerce marketing, retail is not the only category where looks matter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Mistake #3. No Personalization in Search Results<\/h3>\n

Small and mid-sized online stores rarely remember that the search process is part of effective sales instruments. Stop and think for a moment \u2013 is the search function on your website just a simple software patch to make up for the complexity of your product catalog?<\/p>\n

Like at this website below?<\/p>\n

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What if instead of ordinary matches for the search query you could determine what your visitor wants?<\/p>\n

To see the transformative power this has for online businesses, examine the case of BrickHouseSecurity!<\/p>\n

BrickHouseSecurity decided to convert ordinary search into a search with personal product recommendations<\/a> and this resulted in an avalanche of new orders.<\/p>\n

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Can you spot the difference? Not only does the search function includes a visual incentive with small product cards but it displays best matches as well (yes, we can really do that- with our REES46 Progressive Personalization algorithms).<\/p>\n

This search boosted BrickHouseSecurity\u2019s conversion rate up to 100%<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Consequently, <\/strong>the search function is a powerful sales instrument when enhanced with Progressive Personalization and dynamic recommendations.<\/p>\n

Mistake #4. Shady Customer Reviews<\/h3>\n

Accurate Customer Management is an important aspect of the success of your ecommerce marketing plan.<\/p>\n

Just consider this fact: customer Experience Management\u00a0 (or CEM)<\/a> research predicted the industry is projected to grow from $3.77 billion in 2014 to $8.39 billion in 2019.<\/p>\n

Lots of online stores post fake customer reviews to look more appealing (or to slander a competitor). But you can always tell fake from genuine reviews based on the similarities in style and word choice. Fake reviews are easy to spot as they don\u2019t have a link to a customer profile, so there\u2019s no fooling the savvy consumer\u2026<\/p>\n

Here is an example of this detrimental practice:<\/p>\n

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As an online store, you can also manually search for customer testimonials on social networks and connect with your customers through email or phone.<\/p>\n

Or read \u201c7 Creative Ways to Get Customer Testimonials<\/a>\u201d by Kissmetrics.<\/p>\n

While this approach won\u2019t let you build a trust-network to connect with and bring customers together – everybody will understand you\u2019re publishing only what\u2019s best for your brand.<\/p>\n

Real trust-networks let you reach out to the customer and understand what\u2019s on their mind. They also tolerate a dose of negative feedback as numerous research campaigns show that customers tend to develop more trust for websites with both positive and negative reviews: the latter prove there are real customers behind the words. And they allow customers to communicate with each other through the reviews as well.<\/p>\n

Consequently,<\/strong> a trust-network<\/u> is an effective solution for reputation management. This kind of network works both ways and enables you to automate the feedback gathering process, displaying only favorable reviews on your pages, and allowing your customers to browse through the whole list of reviews of negative and positive testimonials to reply to one another.<\/p>\n

Mistake #5. Abandoned Carts Stay Abandoned<\/h3>\n

Abandoned carts<\/a> are a weak spot for most online stores and a real pain for eCommerce. Typically, online stores take up a single practice – either sending triggered emails or showing abandoning visitors banner ads in affiliate networks.<\/p>\n

This is not nearly good enough as both of these two instruments have visible flaws:<\/p>\n