80% of online businesses fail, so we understand the importance of getting "it right." Via Consulting creates customized e-commerce solutions focusing on website conversions and marketing strategies to ensure you don't become part of the 80%. We know there is no "one-size fits all" solution, that is why we take the time to learn the brand and offer up the best solution to drive revenue.
Timeline:
Week One: Analytics Set up
Week Two: Email Set Up
Week Three: Avatars
Week Four: Ad Set Up
Week One: Analytics
You've built the website, you know some people are visiting it. Maybe you even see some sales, but wouldn't it be great to know how they are interacting with your website and how they are finding you? Well, of course that would be great because then you can make better decisions and optimizations. I suggest starting with three pieces of tracking code (don't worry, they are easy to set up!) to get you started:
Google Analytics
Sure, the platform you are using for you website includes some metrics, but they are not as good or robust as Google Analytics. Trust me, you will want Google Analytics installed. Best part? It's free.
Why is this important? Data, data, data. Google Analytics will breakdown where your traffic is coming from, what campaigns it's coming from, and your customers behavior when on your website. Ever heard of UTM parameters? They are little pieces of tracking code that you can add to the end of the url. These are used so you can track specific information about specific campaigns you are running. Want to know cart abandonment? You can find that in GA. Want to know what landing pages are performing the best? GA has you covered. Set up is simple, and if you are using Shopify, they make the process really easy.
Google Search Console
You now have some tracking metrics installed, but you can't forget about GSC! What good is having a website if you don't know how you are ranking in search results? GSC is free and is a great tool to better understand your search traffic.
Why is this important? GSC tells you your store's overall search performance on Google, it lists pages with errors, it also shows you top search queries. This data can help you better understand what keywords you should focus on, and how people are you finding you. Set up is simple, and you just need to attach your domain to GSC.
Facebook Pixel
Facebook's ad platform gets results. Even if you don't decide to run ads, the Facebook Pixel can provide some good data. And, just like Google Analytics, it's free.
Why is this important? Data, data, data. Sensing a theme here? Without the Facebook Pixel you can't really run ads on Facebook or Instagram. Well, you can, but they won't be very targeted, and the great thing about Facebook ads is the ability to setup some super strong retargeting ads. Facebook pixel includes a myriad of events that it tracks like website visits, products viewed, add to cart, and purchases. You can also set up your own custom events, too. Set up is simple, and if you are using Shopify, they make the process really easy.
Week Two: Email Set Up
Email Set Up
Email attributes to over 20% of revenue making it one of the strongest marketing avenues. Setting up a solid email strategy comprised of Welcome Series, Nurture Series, and campaigns is imperative to a solid marketing strategy. I can't go into all of this in this short doc, so for more shoot me an email and I'll send you more details. There are many email service providers out there, so take time to research what works best for you. For e-commerce I strongly suggest Klaviyo. It comes with a slew of automated emails and segmentation making it a great solution for a strong email marketing strategy.
Lead Gen and Pop Ups
Once you have set up your email the first step will be to determine what you are going to offer to get people to sign up for your email. Keep in mind, people don't want to give your email because they are dying to sign up for your newsletter. You need to offer them something that will make them want to give you an email.
Some lead generation ideas:
Coupons
A quiz
A pdf download that provides information
After you’ve decided what you are going to do don’t forget to set up a pop up asking for an email in exchange for your lead generator.
Week Three: Buyer Personas
Creating Buyer Personas
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. Know your audience.
A great exercise to get to know your audience is to build out buyer personas based on interests and behaviors of your audience. This can be super helpful to better understand where your customers are spending their time and money. Plus, it's great for setting up prospecting ad campaigns.
Building Buyer Personas
When building out your buyer personas, it's important to not focus only on basic demographics, but your audience's actual interests. Depending on your product, you may need to build out 4 or 5 of these. Always at least 2.
Questions to Answer:
What apps do they use regularly?
Who makes these apps?
What competitors do they buy from?
What are other items in your market they purchase?
Where do they shop online?
Where do they shop in store?
What blogs do they read?
What shows do they watch?
Where do they get their news?
What clubs/organizations do they belong to?
What type of events do they like to attend?
Where do they travel?
How often do they travel?
There are more questions you can ask and answer, but this is a good starting point.
Building Buyer Personas:
Once you have this information, use it wisely!
Here’s ways to put in action:
Use it to target your buyers on Facebook.
Use it to understand the type of content your
customers are consuming.
Use it to make decisions on what to do/what not to do.
Use it for content marketing decisions.
Use it for affiliates and influencers.
Week Four: Ad Set Up
Setting UP Ads
Organic reach is still possible, but ads are imperative to getting a new brand in front of people. Starting with the two key players: Google and Facebook are great jumping off points. For Google, you will need a Google Ads. For Facebook, you will need to set up a Business Manager account before you can get Ads Manager set up.
Google Ads
Google has three main ad types:
Shopping
Display
Search
Depending on your product, you may want to run all three. I would strongly suggest starting with shopping and search at the least.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads are set up based on objectives: Brand Awareness, Traffic, Conversions, to name a few. If you are starting out from scratch, and trying to find your audience start with brand awareness or traffic campaigns. After people have engaged with your site you can move them into conversion ads. Facebook ads are perfect for moving people along the sales funnel.
Next Steps!
You made it through four weeks of planning - woot! If you've completed the 4 week steps you have built up a foundation for your marketing strategy. There's many, many more things you can be doing to keep this growing and to optimize. Remember: you can't "set it and forget it" when it comes to your marketing strategy - always look for ways to improve and iterate when something doesn't work.
About Tia Viglianco, Founder of Via Consulting
Spending 10+ years working for major publications like USAToday, HuffPost, and Techcrunch, Tia Viglianco, owner of Via Consulting takes her product management knowledge and applies it to creating strong e-commerce experiences that get results. Tia was told by clients that they forget she's not actually a member of "their team." When you work with Via Consulting, we will treat your brand like it's our own and work with you until you succeed!
When Tia isn't doing the e-commerce thing she spends her time volunteering with a local non-profit, The Change Initiative, which is devoted to helping the homeless population get off the streets and into housing or rehab. She also enjoys any home DIY project she can convince her wife to do.
Comments