3 Common eCommerce Marketing Myths Busted
eCommerce Myths Busted: Failing to market, account for all costs, and to seek help can lead to eCommerce marketing failures. For this latest episode of eCommerce Marketing Myth Busters, it’s time to dispel some notions that are quite common to new sellers. Any experienced product marketing agency has encountered sellers with these untrue or half-true notions. They create obstacles to success that prove much easier to overcome early instead of later. Sadly, buying into these myths can cause online ventures to fail, even when they were based upon a sound business idea. Three eCommerce marketing myths To get started with eCommerce on the right foot, learn the truth about these three eCommerce fictions: 1. If it’s on the internet, buyers will find it Most of the large eCommerce platforms make it simple for non-technical people to either set up stores and create listings. At the same time, just having products listed on the internet will not guarantee sales or even store visitors. That’s true even for retailers or direct to consumer advertising agencies with great prices, products, and service. MarketingSignals put the reasons for eCommerce failures into two categories: Poor search engine visibility: Either the new store has no visibility in the platform’s search engine or in such major search platforms as Google. Generally, it takes some time to get noticed by these search engines, so nobody can expect a high ranking at first. Lack of effective marketing: New stores often start out with low search visibility, so they need to grow an audience through social media, blogs, paid ads, or even offline marketing. Internet stores need a sound marketing plan as much as they need products and a platform to sell them on. About two out of three failed online retailers offered one of the reasons above as the reasons they closed up shop. Other less-common reasons for store failures included running out of cash and an ability to profit on sales made. The truth: Just building an eCommerce site and failing to market it almost never works. 2. Free shipping Certainly, listings with free shipping have grown pervasive on plenty of eCommerce websites. Some platforms even give these listings preference in their search engines. Savvy sellers and even buyers should know that shipping costs money. If there’s no separate shipping cost, then that cost was built into the purchase price. According to The Atlantic, seeing shipping charges at checkout ranks among the most common reasons that buyers abandon carts. At the same time, sellers who fail to either charge for shipping or pad their prices to make up for free-shipping offers will risk losing money. Free shipping offers have been touted as a popular way to increase sales. As a caution, The Atlantic article illustrated the example of Etsy. The site used to offer the most visibility only to their most popular sellers. They changed to giving some preference in ranking for free shipping and found overall conversion rates dropped. After this change to the way Esty ranked listings, some of their previously successful sellers struggled. To cope, many Etsy merchants compromised by offering free shipping for minimum orders, hoping they could absorb the cost with higher revenues per sale. The truth: Sellers need to factor shipping charges into their overall costs one way or another. 3. Sellers have to work alone Success with online sales takes more than just developing or sourcing good products and then finding an online venue to sell them on. It’s also critical to account for all of the costs involved to the business, including shipping, marketing, and overhead. Sellers need to find their market and learn to appeal to them through targeted marketing. Once shoppers find the store, listings need to entice them to push the Buy button. Here’s the good news. Startups owners can seek help from experienced people in all of these disciplines. For example, Shopify says that every six months, one out of three of their merchants seek assistance from a Shopify Partner. The Shopify Partner Program helps connect merchants with individuals that can identify and solve common problems. For other platforms or even a dedicated business site, it’s also possible to find an experienced consumer marketing agency that can help. The truth: A lot goes into running an eCommerce business, and smart sellers know when to seek help. What’s the Truth about eCommerce marketing? Plenty of online sellers had leveraged their hobbies or past business experiences into successful eCommerce stores. Of course, eCommerce marketing also offers physical store owners a great way to expand their marketplace beyond their town or even country. The global online marketplace has topped $4.5 trillion and is expected to keep growing, according to Shopify. There’s still lots of room for savvy sellers to grow a new internet business. While plenty of shoppers enjoy the selection, convenience, and prices they can find online, it isn’t always easy for a new store owner to attract them because the opportunity to profit has also attracted plenty of competition. It also takes money to source, market, and deliver products to customers, and sellers need to account for all of their costs. On the positive side, even new sellers can find the right assistance to start managing all aspects of their business the right way from the very first day.
The Human Approach to Medical Device Marketing
An advanced medical device marketing agency will mix fact-based and relationship based marketing, communicating value propositions, and moving online. The professionals at a successful healthcare marketing agency know that they can’t compare medical device marketing to promoting typical consumer goods and gadgets. While it’s helpful to understand marketing basics, a medical marketing agency needs to appeal to a very different and specific sort of customer. To attract the attention of medical device customers, it takes creating the right message about a complex, vital, and typically expensive product while maintaining a human connection. To develop this skill, consider three important aspects of modern healthcare marketing. Adding a human touch to medical device marketing Naturally, the best tactics for marketing various medical devices can also differ in some details. Examples of this important kind of technology can range from pacemakers and infusion pumps to MRI machines. Even though devices and customers may vary, certain principals can help engage customers for a variety of different medical technology. Balance relationship-based and evidence-based messages In the medical field, customers may include doctors, researchers, and medical engineers. That’s why reaching them generally calls for a combination of evidence-based and relationship-based marketing messages: Evidence-based marketing: As the name implies, evidence-based marketing relies on the results of tests, studies, and other sources of hard data. Relationship-based marketing: While medical professionals will certainly care about facts, they’re still people and will also respond to emotional drivers, just like everybody else. Relationship-based marketing can help establish a human connection by telling stories about other customers or even patients. Customers may want to know that a product has a 99-percent success rate, but a story about an individual success or two can help them understand how the purchase will help them, their patients, or their healthcare facility. Establish competitive differentiators and value propositions Anybody who works for a healthcare or pharma marketing agency knows that they’re rarely the only representative that customers communicate with. Value propositions succinctly outline why the device provides a good solution, touches on benefits, and explains how it compares to major competitors. Presenting this information early in the process can quickly gain attention and in some cases, motivate buyers to act. For instance, a hospital executive may hesitate because of concerns over the cost of retraining medical staff to use the new device. It’s important to understand these concerns and explain how this better solution can save money in the long run, reduce risks that could lead to poor outcomes, and other important benefits that outweigh drawbacks. Add online marketing to the mix All kinds of companies advertise online these days. This includes B2C companies. At the same time, it seems like medical device marketing has moved slower to transform parts of their marketing from offline to online. In-person visits still may work very well, but an internet platforms gives marketers a chance to scale their efforts to reach a much wider audience. Consider a few of the main benefits of online marketing for medical devices: Busy prospects can research information whenever their schedule allows, without always having to set aside time for an appointment or a phone call when they have questions. Social media and blog posts can develop relationships and communicate value propositions with a global audience. Video demos and online meeting software can help educate prospects without having to spend extra time and money on travel. Website analytics and other tracking tools make it simple to see how well marketing campaigns perform at each step. Generally, an experienced medical marketing agency won’t suggest skipping office visits, trade shows, or other productive types of in-person marketing. At the same time, they will help you understand how much easier it is to scale your marketing to a national and even an international audience when you take advantage of online communication. Through the use of various media, reaching customers online won’t mean losing a human connection. In fact, such marketing channels as webinars, videos, blog posts, and social sites can help develop relationships with a lot more people. Because the internet is always turned on, it also provides the perfect way to satisfy the demands of busy customers. The importance of medical device marketing While marketing medical devices can prove tricky, a good healthcare marketing agency can enjoy a large market. According to the U.S. government, American healthcare agencies spend $156 billion on a variety of devices, and that’s expected to grow to over $200 billion within a couple of years. In addition, the country exports over $40 billion in medical devices, and the overall industry supports missions of jobs. Marketing medical devices may have challenges, but it also offers plenty of opportunities. Effective tactics include offering both relationship-based and evidence-based marketing messages, quickly establishing the value proposition, and taking advantage of additional online marketing channels.
Logo Mistakes That Could Make Your Brand Look Amateurish
Advice from the best branding companies for startups to avoid giving the wrong impression about a company and having to fix it later. Lots of new business owners try to save money by designing their own brand logo. Typically, a brand marketing agency would advise against that strategy because poorly designed logos can give customers a similarly poor impression of the entire business. That’s a fair caution because even some large and well-financed companies have made mistakes with their logos that they have had to fix later. A lot of times, these were “amateur” mistakes that could have been avoided by relying upon an experienced designer. Avoiding common logo mistakes to avoid perception problems To understand the importance of branding, business owners should know that some companies spent a lot of money on their logos. While Finances Online said that average small businesses tend to spend an average of less than $500 for logo design, they found a small percentage spent over $1,000. That investment might seem large for a startup, but it pales when compared to the $1.2 million that British Petroleum spent for the design of their logo and marketing materials. Of course, even the best branding companies for startups would caution that it’s not always necessary to spend even hundreds of dollars for a business logo. Nike’s initial logo design only cost $35, and Twitter paid $15. Their designs have evolved somewhat since then but kept their basic shapes. In any case, businesses may not make a mistake investing a lot or a little for their graphics. To see the kind of mistakes that even large and successful companies have made, look at some examples. Google’s First Logo Anybody who is old enough to have used the internet for several years might remember Google’s early logo design from 1998. It had essentially the same color scheme as the one today, but it was rendered in 3D with deep shadows and had an exclamation point at the end. The design looks very dated now, and the exclamation point made “Google!” look too much like Yahoo! Shortly afterwards, they made their design appear flatter and removed the offending punctuation. Starbucks It’s hard to think of Starbucks without picturing the green image they have had since 2011. In 2008, they used an earlier version that showed more of the mermaid, including bare breasts, on coffee cups. This was actually a retro image that the company had used before they grew so famous and pervasive. The company got complaints from religious groups because these customers didn’t think it was appropriate for children to visit a Starbuck’s coffee shop and see that image in plain view. After that, Starbucks retired the retro logo and never tried that sort of marketing campaign again afterwards. Other common logo mistakes that can make companies seem amateurish People are visual creatures, and they do remember logos and other marketing graphics. Consider these common examples of what to avoid in order to use graphics as part of positive brand development: The wrong fonts: Every brand will have its own personality. Still, some fonts may send the wrong message or simply look silly. For instance, lots of people make fun of the Comic Sans font today, though it was popular back in the internet’s earlier days. It’s a good idea to compare fonts used by similar companies to see how the shape of letters can provide a message about the brand’s personality. Busy logos: It’s tempting to include as much as possible in a logo, but keeping the design simple can make logos easier to reproduce and easier to understand and remember. For example, a simpler logo will usually look better when it’s reproduced in different sizes. The logo might appear small on a website heading but larger on packaging. Copycat logos: While it’s a good idea to understand why similar companies chose the kind of logo they did, it’s a bad idea to create an image that resembles another brand’s logo too closely. Again, remember the example of that early Google! logo. For one thing, the similarity may generate confusion. In the worst case, the other company might sue or use this mistake to generate negative buzz about the offender. Poor use of colors: Brands like Google appear to have gotten away with using a simple palette of primary colors that might almost look like a child’s first paint set. Still, numerous studies have demonstrated that colors can convey messages, even apart from any words or brand names. It’s a good idea to research the psychology of color and study the tones and hues other companies in the same industry use. Can a brand design agency help develop the perfect, professional logo? Unless the new business happens to be a graphic design company, it’s probably a good idea to engage a branding agency to assist with logo design. Find one with experience researching, developing, and creating logos for successful companies and that will take the time to understand the founder’s vision for the company. If nothing else, a brand marketing agency can provide an objective perspective and the benefit of their experiences with other companies. After all, nobody ever gets a second chance to make a good, first impression.
Using Psychology to Choose Brand Colors
Successful companies pay attention to the psychology of new business logo colors to evoke responses and create expectations for services and products. According to the Journal of Experimental Psychology, scientists have studied the impact of color on human emotions for over 100 years. Based on both scientific and commercial studies, a brand marketing agency may not just suggest certain hues but even various degrees of brightness and tone for new business logo colors. Just as important as the colors may be the way they get used in advertising, packaging, and even products. To help choose brand colors for a new business or product, learn some basics about the way various shades can evoke reactions. Why a brand marketing agency cares about the psychology of color Beyond scholarly studies, look at how some brands have grown so associated with their colors that people can name the brand just by looking at the distinct shade that the company uses. Some examples include: Tiffany’s: This jewelry company uses robin’s egg blue. People who are familiar with this famous company can spot a Tiffany’s shopping bag or jewelry box just from the color. Post-It: The company famous for Post-It Notes distinguished itself with canary yellow. They even had a dispute with Microsoft because the software company used the same shade for the Notes software people can use to add “sticky” notes to their computer and mobile devices. Christian Louboutin: In this case, the fashion designer even carried their company’s color over to the soles of their shoes. To keep their shoes recognizable, the company has won trademark cases that prevent other designers from copying them. The reason these companies went to so much trouble to use and protect their distinctive uses of brand colors stems from consumer behavior. Colorcom, a color and brand design agency, published some interesting statistics to illustrate why color matters so much. For instance, they found that people have already made unconscious decisions about people, products, or environments within 90 seconds of first seeing them. Even more, they base between 62 to 90 percent of that quick, unconscious judgement from color. How a brand design agency might suggest brand colors A brand marketing agency may make suggestions for new business color logos based upon many unique factors, including the product, company, and the typical target market. Even though psychologists have found some common ways that most people react to various shades and hues, sometimes personality factors, gender, and age can also matter. For instance, a financial company might make different choices when they’re trying to attract Baby Boomers than when they’re targeting younger adults. A fashion business could choose a different pallette when they want to appeal to men, women, or teens. To understand how age and gender might impact color choices, look at one research study from Colour Assignment: More men and women select blue as their favorite color than any choices. For women, the runner up for a favorite color is purple. At the same time, purple also ranked first as the least-favorite color for men. The most people from all age groups also picked blue as their favorite color. Somewhat surprisingly, people between 50 and 69 tend to prefer green less and purple more. For people 70 and over, blue emerged as an even clearer favorite, but other color choices were mostly replaced with white. Brands don’t necessarily try to attract customers by only selecting favorite colors. If they did, every company might have a blue logo. Mostly, they hope to evoke a certain response with brand colors. For some examples: Red: Almost every fast food logo incorporates at least some red, a color associated with stimulating appetite. Green and yellow: In contrast, people may associate green with nature and relaxation, and yellow is usually considered a happy color. Purple: Meanwhile, people might like or dislike purple. Still, they tend to associate deep shades of purple with luxury and royalty. While brighter purple tones might strike consumers as fun and vibrant, luxury brands tend to use dark-purple shades to communicate wealth and exclusiveness. Blue: As with other colors, various shades of blue may convey different messages. Tech and manufacturing companies like Samsung and Ford use deep, rich blue to communicate intelligence and reliability. In contrast, many health and beauty companies use lighter blue to symbolize cleanliness. Perhaps they’re using light blue to reflect the color of water. While people don’t tend to favor gray or brown first, some organizations use them effectively. For instance, people can pick out UPS delivery trucks by their distinctive brown color, especially in contrast with Amazon’s blue vans. These more neutral colors actually don’t evoke much of an emotional response and perhaps, that’s a way for some brands to communicate that they’re more analytical and cerebral. With gray or brown, it’s not about the box — or delivery truck — but what’s inside the box. Which brand colors should represent your company? It’s important to mention that Google selected four primary colors that might almost appear childish to somebody who had not seen them each day for the past several years. Microsoft and Apple incorporate similar color schemes, and just because of that, perhaps they’ve come to represent large tech companies. Businesses in similar industries may imitate each other somewhat, even if they don’t dare copy. Before selecting brand logo colors, it’s a good idea to think about the ways people recognize their favorite companies and how various color schemes may encourage or discourage customers from buying a product. As Econsultancy pointed out, it’s not all about the specific colors but also the ways they’re reflected consistently in packaging or products.
Don’t Get “Gooped”: Credible Health and Wellness Marketing Tips
Outlandish health claims make trouble. Health and wellness marketing needs quality content and credible distribution channels to develop long-term trust. Since there’s even a Netflix show about Goop, the wellness company has gotten a lot of attention. Founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, Goop has also attracted more than a little criticism for making questionable claims about the efficacy of its products. Not judging, but some of their natural remedies include jade, sexual-wellness eggs and psychological-energy sprays. Actually, according to NBC News, they were once judged and had to pay $145,000 to settle a California lawsuit for making unsubstantiated health claims. To avoid getting lumped with Goop by today’s savvy consumers or even worse, legal authorities, consider some examples of other businesses that can inspire an effective and authentic health and wellness marketing campaign. Authentic, credible health and wellness marketing In contrast to Goop, Sophie Scott serves as the editor-in-chief of BALANCE, a trusted wellness publication from the U.K. She was quoted in Forbes as saying they worked hard to establish credibility. She understands that many people have lost trust in her industry and doesn’t blame them. For one thing, BALANCE focuses upon prevention, so it’s not as easy to document effectiveness than it might be for a company that promoted remedies. At the same time, she believes that during these stressful times, people need the practical and effective information that her publication offers more than ever. As an example, she mentioned that stress alone causes $1 trillion in global productivity losses every year. In addition, the worldwide wellness industry is estimated to have a worth of $14 trillion, so it’s obvious that lots of people are seeking these kind of solutions. Taking a page from BALANCE, these are some ingredients of their success as a credible and successful healthcare marketing agency and publication: Focus upon factual information: It’s important to ensure that all messaging contains only well-researched and factual information. For instance, BALANCED earned a Wellspoken Mark, given to health and wellness companies that adhere to high standards for only making honest claims. No business wants to be accused of Goop marketing tactics, so take care to only promote proven substantiated benefits. Develop a high-performing marketing strategy: BALANCE charges for printed magazines, but they don’t just rely upon hard-copy distribution. They’re also very active with their content on such social networks as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They have a website, Balance.Media, a podcast, and even promote live events. One example of a past live event that’s creative and relates to their ongoing mission was a live saxophone spin class. What can a healthcare marketing agency learn from BALANCE about distributing content? While BALANCE covers a broad range of topics in their publication, they’re not really in the business of promoting their own products. Instead, they use their publication to research health and fitness ideas and in the process, often advertise other companies. Because they’ve gained credibility with their audience, they might serve as a perfect publisher to attract a growing supplement, fitness, or skincare marketing agency. At the same time, health and wellness manufacturers and distributors may want to develop their own marketing platforms, perhaps both online and offline, so BALANCE can serve as a great example. As another example, Casper produces mattresses, and they began publishing their own print magazine, Woolly. Newer businesses might decide to keep their content online but take something away from the idea that a credible wellness publication can also serve as a great place to promote their brand. Find a niche and establish credibility To get started, it’s best to find a niche and establish credibility there first. As an example, MyFitnessPal maintains a blog that features articles about diet, exercise, and diet-friendly recipes. They use the blog pages to insert promotions for their newsletter, apps, and other products. Sometimes, in turn for great content, they offer bylines to topic experts. As an example, a fitness trainer provided an article about easing into weight training. The trainer’s credibility comes from his experience as a college athlete, power lifter, an advanced degree in Exercise Science, and co-ownership of a gym. At the end of the piece, the blog inserted a promotion for relevant features in their app and prompted readers to download it. This serves as a good example of using relevant, valuable content to attract and audience and then taking the chance to market to them. A wellness business doesn’t need or want Goop marketing Goop certainly gained some attention from their marketing tactics and perhaps, their celebrity owner. It’s not the kind of publicity that a legitimate healthcare marketing agency would suggest for any company that wants to earn a reputation as credible and authentic. Instead, develop high-quality content that doesn’t rely upon outlandish claims and then find distribution channels with the sort of reputation you want your brand to associate with.
Why Legacy Brands With Potentially Offensive Logos Must Evolve
Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, and Land O’ Lakes are just a few legacy brand logos that may give offense. Find out how legacy brands should address these issues. After serving as the face of the brand for over 130 years, Quaker Foods has finally announced that it’s time for Aunt Jemima to retire. Uncle Ben’s and Land O’ Lakes also announced dropping their own old, iconic, and controversial images. These companies all acknowledged that these images were based upon racial stereotypes and could reasonably spark offense. Perhaps it’s time for many other legacy brands to also rethink the way they portray themselves in light of modern sensibilities and better customer experience management. Why are brands rethinking their problematic logos? After the recent protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, the topic of insulting and stereotypical images has been revisited, though the topic has come up before. As one example, Riché Richardson, a Cornell University professor, published a 2015 editorial in The New York Times that underscored Aunt Jemima’s link to racism. It’s fair to say that companies already knew they had perception problems. For instance: Over the years, Quaker Foods has updated Aunt Jemima’s image in a way they believed would give less offense, but now they’re admitting they haven’t done enough. Mars, the owner of Uncle Ben’s, was quoted on CNN. The company said it was time for them to evolve their image, which they were actively planning to do. Actually, it seems past time that any brands with potentially offensive logos should change them. If it’s possible that some brands were not aware of any problems, they could avail themselves of perception research services to ensure they’re not sending the wrong message. These services conduct research to help companies understand their customers better and will uncover these kinds of image problems. What makes a logo offensive? As an example, Aunt Jemima’s name came from an old minstrel song that slaves performed called “Old Aunt Jemima.” Nancy Green, a former slave, became the real-life face of the brand as she did cooking demonstrations, told stories, and sang at such events as the 1983 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The company’s website does tell some of the story of Nancy Green, including her admirable work as an activist, storyteller, and missionary. However, it fails to mention Nancy Green was a slave before the Civil War. Maybe Quaker Foods could have simply renamed their brand Nancy Green and provided a more honest account of her accomplished life. Instead of using a negative image, they could have used a positive one. After all, nobody complains about Log Cabin Syrup, named in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s humble origins. Are other logos as obviously offensive? Similarly, the female-shaped Mrs. Butterworth’s bottle of pancake syrup might offer offense if it’s construed as a racial or even a sexist stereotype, even though the company didn’t base the image on a real person and arguably, even a distinct ethnic group or race. According to USA Today, even that brand intends to engage perception research services for a brand lift study to find out if they should make changes. A brand lift study measures the impact of marketing campaigns to find out how consumers react to the effort. Smithsonian Magazine also reported that Land O’ Lakes dropped the Native American woman from their brand’s logo. They will replace that picture with a tree-lined lake and the words, “farmer owned.” Beth Ford, the Land O’ Lakes CEO, said they planned to use this change to help realign their image as a farmer-owned company. Still, she did not mention that for years, people had criticized the image as objectifying Native Americans. Some critics said seeing the picture in a grocery store could negatively impact the self-esteem of today’s indigenous children. Still, even some Native Americans have mixed feelings. Paul Chaat Smith works as a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. He told Smithsonian Magazine that in some ways, he would miss the image. He added that he’s glad that particular picture of the kneeling woman in Native American garb is gone, but he wishes there was a better image to replace her. Mr. Smith said that he would prefer some alternative besides either accepting the stereotype or complete erasure. Similarly, maybe there should be a way for Aunt Jemima to evolve into positive representation of Nancy Green. Perhaps they could switch to a modern representation of a nurturing mother, advocate, and good cook. Should problematic brands admit their mistakes and move on? Even watching clips from TV shows or commercials from a generation ago can make it obvious that people’s sensitivities have evolved. Food logos, names of sports teams, and many other aspects of branding have come under fire lately. It’s obvious that some should retire in favor of more positive images. Still, in some cases, people have different points of views about how they perceive these brands and exactly what should change. That’s why it’s a good idea for companies to avail themselves of objective research that can help them view themselves as other people do.
DTC Marketing Subscription Box Tips to Move Your Brand
How successful DTC marketing companies use flexible plans, content, and pricing to attract and retain their valued customers. To improve returns on direct to consumer advertising, why not consider a subscription model? After all, it can help improve your company’s typical customer experience by offering convenience and discounts. At the same time, it’s likely to dramatically increase retention. Find out how to add recurring revenue to your D2C marketing plan in order to enjoy faster and more sustainable growth. How to maximize subscriptions to your DTC marketing plan Look at a popular example of a company using direct to consumer advertising for a subscription service. According to Core DNA, a D2C marketing agency, Dollar Shave Club enjoys an incredible 50 percent retention rate after 12 months. Even after two years, that figure only drops to 25 percent. Combining an outstanding retention rate and recurring revenue fueled their rapid growth. Look at the example of Dollar Shave Club and some other successful DTC companies to gain some inspiration. Flexible subscription options can overcome objections Since Dollar Shave Club engaged in DTC marketing, they could offer some flexible options that may have contributed to their retention rate. For instance, they have a “Not-So-Hairy” option that lets customers skip months. It’s interesting to note that they tend to take in more transactions on the second month than the first one. Customers might already have blades for the current month, and this option can overcome that objection. In any case, it’s always a good idea to figure out the market’s possible objections and pain points. Adding in some flexibility to help maximize benefits and prompt quick purchases can help attract more reluctant shoppers. Subscription pricing tactics to reduce competition Because Zuora provides subscription apps to online retailers, they’ve paid attention to the effectiveness of various pricing strategies. In Zuora’s view, competing on the price of a basic subscription may be inevitable for some products. Their best advice to a product marketing agency with stiff competition may be to keep prices as low as possible for the first subscription. Then try to maximize revenues with possible upsells. Of course, they also offered the example of T-Mobile. Instead of solely competing by price, the mobile carrier was one of the first to sell their services without requiring a contract, which helped them double their subscriber base within three years. They still have subscribers who pay monthly fees for services, and often, for extra insurance and to pay off their phones. After getting a phone, many customers also decide to add a tablet or accessories. Their strategy provides an example of a company that offered more flexibility in order to maximize customers and the potential for upsells. Consider using content for marketing DTC subscriptions A more traditional consumer marketing agency may suggest using mostly paid ads to gain brand recognition and attention. In particular, a startup marketing agency could advise very new brands that they need to sell products as quickly as possible to start driving revenue. That can work; however, a lot of companies have enjoyed success by using an inbound, content-driven marketing scheme to attract their audience. Some companies even start with content before they ever offer their products by subscription. As an example, Glossier sells beauty products directly to consumers. The founder, Emily Weiss, started with a beauty blog and strong social media and video presence that offered insights about celebrity beauty rituals. Her content strategy also allowed her to connect with plenty of online influencers. Only after the blog attracted 15 million views each month, Ms. Weiss decided to develop her beauty company. By that time, she already had a huge, loyal audience. Even better, she had gotten to know her market very well. Other brands do it the other way. They begin their product brand and then develop online and in some cases, offline content. Popular kinds of online content include blogs, videos, and even webinars. For offline content, businesses might sponsor such relevant events as demos, classes, tables at festivals, or booths at trade shows. Benefit from loyal customers and brand ambassadors Word-of-mouth marketing still performs very well. By offering a referral program, a DTC subscription business can recruit an army of brand ambassadors from its own satisfied customers. Also, the nature of recurring revenue can make it easier to entice customers to spread the word by offering them recurring discounts or rewards every time their recruit’s subscription charges them. And since recurring customers can offer businesses a high lifetime value, it’s worth an investment to keep them. Loyalty programs can motivate customers to stay subscribed by providing them a way to earn discounts, reward points, or free gifts every time they get an order. Work to create the best customer experience with subscription plans Of course, customers enroll in subscription plans to enjoy convenience and discounts. Businesses should learn about their customers to deliver the best possible experience and overcome potential objections. Some succeed by offering very simple options to maximize efficiency and avoid overwhelming people. Others provide a variety of plans to try to satisfy different kinds of customers. Finding the perfect balance may require some testing and surveys.
Renter Pain Points a Multifamily Marketing Agency Should Target
Multifamily marketing should understand both market and marketing distribution to solve renter pain points and attract qualified renters. In marketing, a pain point refers to a problem that businesses can provide a solution for. A multifamily marketing agency can benefit by understanding their potential customers very well. They can learn about the issues that might motivate people to move from their current housing or choose one apartment community over another one. By communicating solutions to these pain points, apartment marketing can make sure that people find their message and pay attention to it. What pain points can a multifamily marketing agency address? For established complexes or property development marketing, consider these common renter pain points: Outdated tech Apartment marketers can scratch off a lot of a modern renter’s boxes with the right tech. For instance: According to the Rental Housing Journal, younger adults look for such features as smart thermostats and security systems that can help them manage electric bills and protect their home. Renters want to save money and feel safe. While new developments probably already have a design that includes good mobile and Wi-Fi reception, some older buildings may have dead zones. These days, everybody expects to have good mobile and Wi-Fi. Technical solutions can also make it easy and convenient for renters to pay bills, manage serve request online, and even sign their leases. Some of these products allow renters to login and handle their business 24/7 and even send out automated email or text alerts alerts. They can also interface with accounting and rental management systems to ease the property manager’s workload. Apartment location Renters will want to know more about the location of any apartment community they’re considering. For instance, commuters may desire easy access to public transportation and freeways. Parents will want to know how close they are to neighborhood schools. In some cases, a location near shopping, restaurants, and entertainment may help attract people. Either way, it’s a good idea to highlight any positive aspects of the complex’s location on the apartment’s website, blog, and social media. Apartment amenities Today’s renters will generally expect certain amenities, so it’s a good idea to use these as a selling point. The Rental Housing Journal mentioned that many Millennials have gotten married and started to have children, so they might prefer such family-friendly features as a playground, pool, sidewalks, pet-friendly policy, dog park, and bike stand. Renters without children may enjoy some of these amenities as well. In particular, younger adults tend to prefer patronizing eco-friendly businesses, and landlords should emphasize features like smart thermostats, low-flow faucets, and any other environmentally friendly amenities. Very often, these eco-friendly features can also help save money, which helps address another potential pain point. Timing property development marketing For projects in development or undergoing remodeling, pre-development marketing can provide investors with great returns. Not only can they potentially run specials to lease units before they’re even completed, they can use the opportunity to gain valuable information about potential tenants. As an example, one marketing style may not appeal to every kind of tenant or even every community. By starting early, it’s possible to ensure that social posts, websites, and other marketing materials are prompting the right kind of prospects to schedule visits and complete application forms. Learning to target the best prospects can help improve marketing returns and save property managers a lot of time. Also, it’s important to time messages well. If a qualified prospect didn’t end up leasing, consider sending an automated message in about 11 months, shortly before their current lease gets ready to expire. It’s possible that the apartment they rented did not satisfy their expectations or doesn’t meet current needs. At least, they’re already familiar with the property, so they’re more like warm prospects than cold ones. Creative problem-solving for apartment marketing Moving’s always a hassle, so some apartments offer some creative specials to make the move as convenient and attractive as possible. Some fairly inexpensive examples could include free truck rental, move-in boxes, and of course, pizza. Partner with moving companies, daycare, storage companies, and maid services to offer discounts on moving, childcare during the move, storage, and getting their old place cleaned up. Some of these other companies may work out a deal to share promotions, which can help expand the audience for both the apartment and the service. Distributing marketing for property developers Of course, no amount of reducing pain points will help if potential renters don’t see it. It’s a good idea to keep up an active social presence on local groups. Tailor website pages and blog pages to address various needs that renters might look for and make sure to optimize them to get found by search engines. If a prospect searches for easy ways to move to your locality, make sure they can find the complex’s specials for free or discounted moving trucks. In that way, apartment marketing can let renters know that the complex can offer a better experience than they may have even expected.
Is the “Paradox of Choice” Ruining Your eCommerce Site?
According to the paradox of choice idea, offering too many choices can stress out customers, reduce conversions, and detract from business. The “paradox of choice” phrase comes from a marketing book and a Ted Talk by Barry Schwartz, a well-known psychology professor. On the surface, having plenty of choices seems like a very positive thing. Dr. Schwartz thinks this idea often backfires because people get so overwhelmed by having a great number of choices that they may fail to make any decisions at all. Online shopping offers consumers an almost unlimited range of choices. Recently, businesses have taken a look at eCommerce marketing to find out if having so many options benefits buyers and sellers as much as they might have thought. As with most marketing questions, it can depend upon the business, market conditions, and unique marketing strategies. Can offering fewer choices make eCommerce marketing more profitable? The recent experience of many restaurants can illustrate the idea that offering fewer choices might provide businesses with benefits. Though they’re not typically thought of as traditional eCommerce businesses, a lot of dine-in restaurants had to publish online menus and offer to-go orders because of social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic. To simplify ordering and eCommerce web development, they considered the fact that a few items generally generated most of their profits and sales. Thus, they often trimmed menus and featured only their most popular meals. More than a few restaurants decided to maintain their limited menus even after they reopened because they found smaller menus move improved efficiency more than it turned away customers. During the outbreak, restaurants needed to run as efficiently as possible for a number of reasons, including restrictions on capacity and problems with supply chains. As time passes and things return to normal, some of these places may add back more items to their menus. However, while they need to remain very lean and agile to cope with the outbreak, many have decided that reducing frills and choices solves a lot of problems. Particularly for businesses that need to trim budgets and run as lean as possible, the notion of offering fewer items has obvious merit. How fewer choices might increase conversions To see why limiting options won’t always reduce sales, consider one study from a Columbia University psychology professor. Dr. Iyengar set out a tasting table in a grocery store with 24 different jam flavors. That table attracted 60 percent of the shoppers who passed by. Later, she reduced the selection to to only six flavors and attracted only 40 percent of the customers. At the same time, she enjoyed conversion rates of only three percent when she offered 24 flavors and thirty percent when she only offered six. Even though she attracted fewer tasters to the table, she sold a lot more jam when she limited choices. In response, Dr. Iyengar agreed with Dr. Schwartz’ idea that offering too many options might lead to information overload. She believed more customers turned away because so many choices made them feel fatigue or even stress. How does the paradox of choice impact online sales? An Amazon marketing agency might also keep this in mind when deciding on how many products to offer or even if Amazon will provide the best platform to focus on. Who hasn’t started shopping on Amazon at one time or another and found so many options that nothing ever got ordered at all? According to BigCommerce: Amazon already sells more than 12 million products. Amazon lists over a million products in the home improvement category alone. At the same time, some channels enjoy fairly low conversion rates. For instance, only two percent of Echo owners have used their device to order products. Maybe this audio-only device doesn’t lend itself so well to an eCommerce platform with so many choices. DTC companies and distributors may want to also consult with a Shopify agency to see if they would have a better opportunity marketing with their own distinct shop. Most third-party sellers also use other platforms, so testing more than one option appears prudent. Even then, new sellers should probably consider starting with only a few products. As they grow, they might slowly and carefully expand their offerings and even remove some low-performing products. Finally, trying to become all things to all people can make it difficult to remain efficient. Meanwhile, offering a few, well-chosen options makes it easy to deal with inventory, customer service, and sometimes even eCommerce web development. Businesses with fewer products might not attract as many prospects. Still, if they can balance a lower number of visitors with high conversion rates, lower operating costs, and fewer hassles, maybe they can use this tactic to increase profits. What can the paradox of choice tell you about your customers? Of course, some companies thrive by offering lots of interesting choices. For instance, having lots of creatively named ice cream flavors has appeared to serve Ben & Jerry’s very well. Lots of fans of this company can’t wait to taste the latest creation. Still, Dr. Schwartz cautioned that providing too many choices might lead people to take shortcuts that will prompt them to pick something that they believe is good enough instead of taking more time to find the best solution. He also said people with too much freedom of choice may have extremely high expectations and that increases the risk of disappointment. Perhaps offering lots of flavors works for Ben & Jerry’s because selecting ice cream doesn’t require a big investment. Also, the company’s been very creative about their release strategy and devoted themselves to building customer trust. With the jam experiment, customers were first introduced to an unfamiliar brand. A more expensive and durable kind of product may also take a bigger risk. Is less more for eCommerce marketing? The choice of how many products to offer and which online platform to use can depend upon many factors. These might include the type of product, overall marketing goals, and the
Adobe Might Lose Its Creative Software Crown
By: Rhett Withey, Bigeye Art Director When you take a shot at the king, you better not miss. Adobe, the king of the creative software world, has reigned over its users with the expectation that no matter what the company does, their users have to buy their product because it’s the “universal standard.” Adobe, recognizing the grip they hold on the creative world, has in recent years taken advantage of their user base by changing its business model to a steeply priced monthly subscription, continuing to release updates overrun with bugs and glitches, and rarely coming through on promised features presented at yearly trade shows. There is a challenger to the throne looming on the horizon, and its name is the iPad Pro. The hubris of Adobe has been knowing that designers and creatives can’t just up-and-drop Photoshop or Illustrator in favor of a newer and cheaper alternative without risking a severe downturn in productivity. In the fast-paced world of advertising, designers have decades of muscle memory with hotkeys and processes ingrained in their heads. Going cold turkey and learning a completely new software would result in the loss of hundreds of hours of time on projects. Adobe knows this and expects their users to return month-after-month and year-after-year. The iPad is Adobe’s worthy competitor. What Adobe doesn’t know is that the iPad, specifically the iPad Pro, is helping knock down the gatekeeping walls that Adobe holds to the creative industry. There are a bevy of great design and illustration apps available on the iPad that replicate the experiences of Adobe products and at a much cheaper cost. Apps such as Procreate and Affinity Designer don’t require recurring payments and often cost less than a one-month subscription of an Adobe Creative Cloud license. Of course, established designers aren’t going to ditch their desktops in favor of the iPad Pro, but there are designers who are actually preferring the iPad experience over the desktop for illustrating, designing, and photo editing. They are the ones currently sitting in the backseat of a minivan on a road-trip or on a bus heading home from school. They are in their bedroom at their parents’ house doodling on the iPad while watching TV. Children and teenagers are adopting the use of iPads at a younger age, and their parents aren’t likely diving headfirst into an expensive Adobe Creative Cloud subscription plan. Younger generations are paving their own way. This younger generation is currently developing their own muscle memory of tricks and processes that they will, in time, transfer to their future careers as designers and visionaries. It’s a future that Adobe doesn’t seem to see coming. Adobe needs to adapt if it plans on being around in the next ten to twenty years. They won’t have the luxury of relying on users coming back just because they are working on a familiar system. Each subsequent release of the iPad and iPad Pro is closing the gap between what a tablet is and what a computer is. Apple has even recently released an update that allows for keyboard and mouse support on the tablet itself. Adobe does offer iPad versions of some of its software such as Photoshop and Illustrator, but those apps have been released years after initial releases of other apps such as Procreate, which itself has developed a dedicated following and has been identified as one of the “must own” apps on the iPad Pro. Also, without a Creative Cloud subscription, the Adobe offerings come up short of being their own fully realized design apps on the iPad. If Adobe expects to continue its reign on the creative world, they are going to have to win over the hearts and minds of the younger generation through their iPads.