Test Post from RocketResponder

Test Post from RocketResponder
https://www.rocketresponder.com/blog

How to Win Back Online Shoppers Who Fail to Check/Abandon Cart

Shopping cart abandonment is a huge problem for businesses of all sizes. There is a multitude of reasons that customers abandon their cart but there are ways to win them back. The trick is in knowing how to get, keep and win over customers who will complete their shopping experience with you the first time and every time thereafter.

It is not enough to simply persuade a customer to complete the checkout process; you want them to come back again. With the right tips, your customer base will grow and customer retention will help you keep them coming back repeatedly.

Customers overwhelmingly abandon their cart before completing the checkout process and your business is not the only one suffering the consequences. In fact, Baynard recently published cart abandonment rate statistics to have all the statistics in one place. The results are staggering. While the percent of e-commerce shopping cart abandonment rates fluctuate between the sources somewhat, the average shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.53 per cent.

Use a simple design on your page to give customers what they want now. Keep the links to a minimum.

Keep it simple

It is imperative that your site is easy to read and easy to navigate. Customers do not want to click through a dozen links to get to the product or service they came to your site to purchase. They will quickly abandon their cart in favor of another company where they can easily find and purchase what they want or need.

Make your site mobile-friendly. Many shoppers use their mobile devices to make online purchases. If they cannot easily make their purchase and complete the checkout process from their mobile device, you risk losing many customers who will go to another online site that is more mobile friendly.

Using email

Avoid endless popup messages badgering the customer to sign up for your email list – this is very off-putting.

Instead invite people to sign up to receive emails from you via an opt-in form on your website.

The idea is to develop a relationship with your customers by providing them with information, tips or insights that they will find useful and worth reading.

This will make them more likely to trust you and if they trust you then they are more likely to buy from you.

Send a welcome message to those who do sign up and then have a follow up series which has been specifically designed to give your email subscribers the kind of information they are looking for. RocketResponder has been designed to fulfil this role without you having to spend too much time on email marketing.

Make sure the email subject line has your business name so the customer does not delete it before reading it, thinking it is spam. That way you only get customers who are truly interested in receiving your emails.

No surprises

Keep customers informed up front to avoid sticker shock near the end of the checkout process. Customers want to know what their total cost is upfront before they reach checkout. Hiding add-ons such as shipping charges, processing and handling fees creates sticker shock for some customers when their $29 item is now $50 at checkout. When customers can easily link to your shipping charges or other fees upfront, it increases the chances of a completed sale. Customers do not want to feel you deceived them by hiding additional fees and charges until the very end of their shopping experience.

Offering customer perks shows the customer that you have their satisfaction in mind. Perks such as free or reduced shipping, loyalty bonuses for repeat customers, free returns if the customer is not satisfied with their purchase and live customer support are just some ideas that help to build trust with your customer base. Making these perks easily visible and not hidden somewhere is crucial.

To get customers to complete the checkout process, you have to give them the incentive to do so. Making the checkout process simple and with minimum time involved can contribute to customer satisfaction. Customers do not have time to go through a lengthy or complicated checkout process. Keep it simple and watch your shopping cart abandonment rates decrease.

How to Win Back Online Shoppers Who Fail to Check/Abandon Cart

Increase Your Subscribers Response Rate

One of the first things people do when they get online is check their email accounts. Some do it first-thing in the morning, while others run to it whenever they need a break from work. This shows what a powerful tool email can be for reaching your customers. However, it’s one thing to get your messages into their inbox and another to get them to open them. If they’re not clicking on the links inside, your marketing strategy isn’t working.

Here are some tips to increase your response rate:

1.) Personalize Your Messages

One of the most important things you can do is use their first name in the message. Everyone is attuned to the sight and sound of their own name. You’d be surprised how a simple personal touch can boost the success rate of your campaign. If you use it in the subject line, more of your recipients will open their messages. If you use it within the body of the message, you’re more likely to hold their attention and get them to click through it.

2.) Keep a Clean List

Your campaigns will be much more effective if you’re able to maintain a clean list of subscribers. There are tools and software available that you can use to verify the validity of addresses in your list. This allows you to focus on those that will actually receive your emails.

On a related note, you should always make it easy for your recipients to unsubscribe. Run a search for unsubscribers before each campaign and add them to an exclusion list. Clear out any outdated email addresses and check your delivery reports frequently.

Be aware that third-party monitoring services will “blacklist” you if your low deliverability rate leads them to believe you’re nothing more than a spammer. The cleaner your list is, the less likely it is that the ISPs will either block you or route your messages to the junk folder.

3.) Get to the Point

Once you get your subscribers to open your emails, the last thing you want is to lose them. Get to the point quickly so they won’t think they’re wasting their time. All it takes is one poorly-written email to leave them with a bad impression.

4.) Offer a “Secret Discount”

Everyone appreciates a good discount and your campaign emails will seem a bit more personal if you extende a special offer to a select group of subscribers that happens to include them. The trick is not to give away the actual percentage of the discount until they’ve clicked through the message. Let their curiosity guide them, instead. Although this might seem to contradict the previous tip about getting to the point right away, there’s a difference between getting their attention right away with the prospect of a discount and giving them all the details.

5.) Provide Contact Information

Don’t give your subscribers the impression you’re hiding from them. Always provide customer care contact information, in case they have questions. You can either include an email address and phone number, or a link to your company’s customer care page.

6.) Use a Strong Subject Line

The first thing your recipients are going to see is the subject line and it will largely determine whether they open your email or not. The objective is to provide a clear and strong reason to open it that grabs their attention without being deceptive. Be direct and state your intention (such as a benefit, matter of urgency or call to action) in as few words as possible. Also make sure your company’s name is in the “from” field, rather than a person’s name, department name or email address.

7.) Pay Attention to Your Subscribers

If you don’t keep a close eye on your subscribers, you’ll begin losing more of them with each campaign. Every recipient who unsubscribes does so for a reason and if you want some insight as to why, you’ll have to put yourself in their place. Are you emailing them too often? Are you customizing your emails so they don’t all get exactly the same message? Are you keeping them interested? Imagine yourself on the receiving end of your email campaign and ask yourself the tough questions.

Increasing your subscribers’ response rate isn’t rocket science. On the contrary, it comes down to some simple guidelines that are often overlooked. Don’t ever let your subscribers feel like they’re just numbers. Address them by name, tell them right away why you want their attention and give them a good reason to open your emails. Keep this up while maintaining a clean list and you should notice a significant improvement.

Increase Your Subscribers Response Rate

5 Ideas to Guide Your Follow-up Series

They say that a follow-up series is a great idea to engage your prospects and customers. You agree and want to create a series that helps generate additional conversion and builds more trust in your brand. Where is a small business owner to begin? Here are 5 steps and a few leading ideas to begin generating a follow-up series that continues the conversation.

Begin the Conversation

1. Begin with a ‘thank you’ page. Reassure the customer that they have made the right decision for a purchase or an email opt-in. Give them access to the promised product or downloadable. Point out that the item will arrive shortly in their email but that some email may end up in a junk folder. If they choose to whitelist your email address, further communications should appear in their primary inbox.

2. The first in a series of auto-responder emails then begin. Welcome them to the subscription service and remind them of the company and previous communications. Offer any links that may have been missed and offer support with any related processes. Soft pitch any related programs that can be of benefit to the client.

3. The second email mentions the product or newsletter name. Remind the addressee of how to use or incorporate the downloaded files. If there are additional useful resources that can be useful, offer them to the client.

4. The third email can recommend products, resources, newsletters and membership sites that would help the client. Inquire as to if they have begun using the product or opt-in items. Review the benefits of the related item. It is also possible to ask for a testimonial as to the company, opt-in or product that has been used and how it addressed their specific problem.

5. The fourth email offers your help. A personalized domain name lets subscribers feel that you want to build a personal relationship with them and are available to hear any concerns that they may be having. Make them feel special by informing them that only valued subscribers or customers like themselves have access to more tailored support services from you. Answer responses personally. Consumers want to feel like there is a real person on the side that has cared enough to read over and individually respond to them.

Provide Valuable Content

Vendors or companies that continually provide educational content over special deals generate more trust. Your company has positioned itself as an expert that cares about their needs. The strategy of offering content of educational value leads to long-term relationships and creates loyalty of customers to a brand.

Perhaps a client has ordered a new sink for their bathroom. Materials such as repairing leaks, regrouting tiles and the latest bathroom vanity trends can be segmented and divided into a series. A free video link can also accompany the emails that help home owners to fix small issues or rethink their space. Be a resource to customers and prospects and they will maintain their subscription.

Ensure that all correspondence is quickly followed up by a tailored email. Whether the prospect called or emailed for further information, take the time to personally reach out to them and to check about the progress of a concern or to offer additional help. There are free templates to follow up on responses from email opt-ins, to respond to interest shown by prospects at tradeshows or for further types of interaction. Be available to customers and prospects alike by keeping the lines of communication continually open.

5 Ideas to Guide Your Follow-up Series

9 Reasons Why Using Email to Reach Clients Is Smarter Than You Think

Email is an essential business tool in this interconnected world. It stands as one of the most useful communication tools to reach clients and prospects when they want to be reached. There is a place for other methods of outreach but email remain a top avenue of business communications. Email is an effective tool for delivering your message to clients.

Email is Fast

As soon as you press send, emails are sent over to the addressee’s inbox. It can reach then while they are involved in other activities and doesn’t change message as when one might speak to a third party. Your message stays true.

Email Allows for Elaboration

Emails can hook the initial interest of the recipient and give further details. Attachments such as documents and presentations can be included. Important links to videos and websites can help to underscore your intent. Documents can be stored for later use or downloaded for immediate viewing and review.

Email is Instantly Available

Emails can be saved and archived for later reading or referral. Cell phones keep attachments and vital information handy without having to search for information through physical paperwork and files. All correspondence is portable and convenient to access.

Email is Budget-friendly

Whether using a personal email account or a webmail service, email is a minimal marketing expense. Direct mail still requires materials and stamps and costs more to implement than email during a marketing campaign.

Email Permits Convenient Reponse

From either-direction, whether from B2C or in reverse, clients can respond to emails at a convenient time anywhere in the world. If clients have an issue, they can send a message to businesses outside of operating hours and have their message read at the opening of the following business day. It is easier to clearly send a message that says exactly what is intended by the sender without the possibility of any miscommunication that can occur when leaving messages verbally through third parties.

Email is Global

How much does it cost to send a letter by DHL, FedEx or another carrier? Email is a fraction of the cost and helps to address the needs of customers anywhere in the world without the additional time lost with mailing services. FedEx is still overnight. Email is there now.

Email is Trackable

Businesses will send x number of emails out to interested parties. Businesses can track response rates. They can tell which emails are opened, which addressees click on links and any emails that have bounced back. Email addresses can be easily updated and categorized to reflect active email addresses and the status of the addressee.

Email can be Segmented

One general email blast is less effective than targeted emails to the needs of different groups of people behind the email addresses. The beauty of email is that lists can be generated and updated based on categories of people such as initial leads, interested parties, current customers and those that have not purchased in some time. The message can be tailored to initially interest a prospect, provide more resources, upsell and remarket. Prospects and clients in the pipeline have different needs as they progress towards purchasing or making a larger purchase. Emails allow senders to easily change the category of the email address to reflect the current status of the recipient.

Email can be Evergreen

Successful campaigns and associated materials can be tracked and useful downloadable pdfs, ebooks and free content giveaways can be created to be used indefinitely. Quality content that motivates conversion should be kept and used in future outreach efforts.

Hone the capacity to deliver quality email messages and increase engagement while reducing costs.

9 Reasons Why Using Email to Reach Clients Is Smarter Than You Think

Tips to Follow for Small Business Email Marketing Success

Every single day, more than 100 billion emails will go out and be opened in various mailboxes across the world, technology market research firm the Radicati Group, Inc. found in 2013. While yes, many of these messages will be junk that gets stuck in the spam filter and then sent straight to the trash bin, many other emails that a person gets actually do matter. If you’re a small business owner, you want your emails to count in this category.

Email has been used as an online communication tool since 1993. While many other 1990s computer features like floppy discs and dial-up connections are simply vernacular from a bygone era, email is still as effective and widely used as ever. Therefore, if your company hasn’t tried automated email marketing yet, you could be missing out on a huge and viable means of bringing in new customers and keeping them coming back again and again.

In order to be as successful as possible with your email marketing campaign, don’t over complicate or over think the process. Just like you’ve taken the time to get a professional website (whether you made it yourself or not) and create various social media profiles, it’s time to add an email newsletter area to these sites. This box shouldn’t be hidden off on one corner or at the bottom of your website. You want as many people as possible to know that you have an email newsletter, so put the box where people can see it. Just ask for their name and email address in the box and that’s it, they’re signed up.

Remember that you’re not the only company that a customer does business with. They’re likely signed up to receive the latest about a variety of products and services. Just like always, you have to stand out from the competition and give the customer an incentive to click. The first way to do that is with an enticing subject line. Don’t just title these “small business newsletter #1,” since that’s a snooze fest waiting to happen. Instead, let the email content be your guide. If you have a new product to sell or you’re offering discounts for new email subscribers, put this in the subject line.

When it comes to the body of the email, although it’s a newsletter, don’t write a novel. Provide links to other parts of your company website with news so interested customers can click and learn more. Don’t overdo it on bold text, weird fonts, exclamation points, or huge pictures, as these could turn customers away. Most importantly, you have to stagger out when you email customers. Although the process is automated, reaching out daily is obviously too much. Perhaps you send out the newsletter weekly, twice a month, or monthly. Don’t wait too long between emails, as this could drive away customers as well.

Tips to Follow for Small Business Email Marketing Success

Enterprising Entertainment: Promoting Your Company With Online Videos

Every investment your company makes has risks, and marketing is no exception. Whenever you pay for new advertising space or content, you take the risk that viewers won’t understand or like what you publish. To minimize the chance of a negative or lukewarm reaction, incorporate corporate videos into your marketing strategy.

Videos keep viewers attention, humanize your company, and let you explain complex concepts in simple terms:

Amiable Animations

Animation is the ideal tool for providing brief, easy-to-understand introductions to prospective customers. Since introductory videos target viewers who have never bought from your company before, and may not have any prior interest in your products, they must be brief, concise, and entertaining. Animations allow you to achieve all of these goals with ease. By synching a voiceover description of your company with illustrations, tables, and graphs, you can provide context and specific details without lengthening the voiceover.

Animations also allow you to incorporate funny or fascinating visuals to entertain viewers. As long as those visuals relate to your company, such animations will both entertain and educate, ensuring that viewers will remember your company positively.

Entertaining Explanations

Animated videos are great for introducing your company’s general services, but when it comes to explaining more specific processes, animation is too expensive and time consuming to perform regularly. Many companies instead use written entries on their websites, and while this can be an effective method, there are limits to relying on a single medium of expression. Supplementing written content with live videos allows you to incorporate music, text, visuals, and occasional animations for a more varied experience.

By including interviews with the employees responsible for each process, video documentation of the services they perform, and music or interesting voiceovers in the background, you can explain each company service in an engaging, enjoyable manner.

The Virtues of Vlogging

Besides explaining company services, you can generate further interest in your business by keeping a regular vlog. Like written content marketing, vlogs bring in new customers who previously had no interest in your product. Unlike written content, however, vlogs are easier to plan. If one of your employees is good at ad-libbing, you can make entertaining vlogs on a regular basis with minimal effort and no prior planning.

Viewers are also less likely to notice grammar mistakes in vlogs, and spelling mistakes don’t apply, meaning you won’t have to spend as much time editing them. As long as the vlogs remain on topics related to your company and avoid offensive material, they’re sure to bring you positive publicity.

Event Highlights

Every time your company has a party, attends a convention, or takes part in some other event, film the event and compile the highlights into a video. By including funny and heartwarming moments, you’ll associate your company with a positive, human image. This will make customers more willing to trust you and remain loyal Just make sure everyone you film consents to appearing in a company video.

Enterprising Entertainment: Promoting Your Company With Online Videos