The first step to successful corporate blogging is setting up your blog. While the blogosphere offers plenty of options for a platform, WordPress is perhaps the most user-friendly hosted software available. Some eCommerce software solutions integrate their own blogging solutions into their platforms as well.

Here are five best practices for eCommerce blogs.

Don’t try to sell your product

It’s easy to get caught up blogging about your organization’s products and services, but blogging isn’t meant to be a direct sales channel; it’s meant to engage your target audience with relevant content that positions your business as a leader in the industry. For instance, if you specialize in gardening equipment, post content that reflects new trends or technology in the gardening industry, tips and tricks for starting your own backyard garden, or pictures and success stories of customers and their gardens.

Give your customer a voice

Businesses are confused about user-generated content, and a lot of them fall into the trap of censoring the customer’s voice. You don’t want negative content about your company floating around on a site branded for your business, do you?

Common sense says no. Online media experts say otherwise. In fact, letting your customers contribute positive and negative feedback alike offers a chance for you to build trust with your customers. If a negative comment appears on your blog, respond in a timely manner with a friendly tone. Promise better service. Your customers will thank you for your honesty and transparency.

NOTE: Offensive and non-relevant content should always be removed swiftly.

Clearly display links to your websites, social media and other branded channels

While your blog isn’t a direct sales channel, there’s no harm in pointing potential customers in the right direction. If they’re really intrigued by your opinion, they’ll want to know more about the people behind that opinion. Giving them easy access to your sales channels in a non-intrusive way of bringing in new customers.

Don’t be afraid to use SEO

According to a recent SERPS behavior study, 62 percent of search users click a link on the first page of search results. There is no doubting the value of SEO, and linking key phrases from your blog to your website is a great way to promote organic growth by drawing in new customers. Insert two key phrases in each post and link them back to relevant pages on your website.

Write short, concise posts

How long is your attention span when you surf online? If you’re like us, you won’t last very long, and neither will your audience. Posts between 300-500 words are your best bet for keeping your audience’s attention long enough for them to learn something. If you create posts that are longer, your best bet is to split them into a series of articles. Recurring series leave a great cliff-hanger—or, if the content is older, it’s a great way to get visitors to view multiple blog entries.

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If you’re struggling to figure out why your promotions aren’t performing, odds are your trouble stems from your selected advertisement channels. Simply creating a promotion and posting it to your website won’t garner you the sales you’re expecting. If no one knows about your promotions, you can’t expect them to deliver conversions.

So what are the best ways to syndicate your promotions? Take a look at the following ideas that will help you get the word out about your promotions.

Coupon Websites

Just about everyone has heard of Groupon, yet few are aware of the cautionary tales spread by many online merchants. For one, you have to pay out a portion of your sales to Groupon, which may draw in new customers, but in the end, won’t make you money. Used often, promotions won’t add up to much if you try to push them through Groupon.

But don’t worry. Coupon sites represent a great alternative. Websites like Coupons.com, CouponMom, SmartSource and more offer you a great way to promote coupons, discounts and other promotions. Get listed with these sites for a lower cost than Groupon and increase the visibility and success of your promotions.

Onsite Ads

You’ve created landing pages for your promotions, but you need to promote them on other pages of your site, too. There are plenty of traditional ways to accomplish this, including a banner on your homepage, or a sidebar that stays with the shopper on every page.

Have you ever considered pop-ups or page-peels? Something interactive that serves as a clear call to action is a great way to ensure you’re getting eyeballs on your promotions. Experiment with different ways to direct traffic towards promotions and you’ll find ways to increase their success.

Social Media

 Are you using your social media channels to their fullest potential? The easiest part of content marketing is reusing content for each marketing channel you maintain. Yet plenty of small businesses ignore this concept.

You’re trying to get your promotions out into the world. Use your own social media channels for this—but more importantly, use other people to get the word out too. Before giving a customer access to a promotion, give them an action-step. Make sharing the deal a barrier to actually claiming it. You’re asking for a small investment from your customer that could lead to a higher performing promotion.

Email Marketing

A personalized marketing strategy can help you make serious headway with your percentage of return customers. Consider how quickly you can convert a new customer into a returning one by sending a complimentary coupon with their first purchase. After the customer receives their product, set automatic emails to go out that contain a deal. When they have the product in hand, it helps them visualize a future purchase, enhancing the likelihood they’ll buy again.

Outside Ads

Still not finding any success? Get involved with Google Ads or other forms of PPC campaigns to return targeted search results to potential customers. This is another great place to experiment with your marketing tactics. Try different sets of keywords and headlines to optimize your promotional campaigns.

The post Syndicating Your Promotions appeared first on Shift4Shop.

As the eCommerce landscape continues to develop and evolve, countless marketing tools are emerging to help merchants remain competitive. Yet despite the influx of available apps and tools, few marketing tactics have proven as effective or powerful as a loyalty program.

Implementing a loyalty program for your online store can dramatically increase sales with the following benefits.

Stand Out from Your Competitors

 The eCommerce market is as competitive as it gets, and as more stores emerge on a daily basis, customers are finding themselves inundated with more options than they can handle. A loyalty/reward points program will help your business stand head and shoulders above the rest, and will provide customers with an extra incentive to choose your store over your competitors. Lacking this feature, on the other hand, may be the deciding factor that results in countless abandoned carts.

 Point Collectors Spend More Money

 Research shows that not only are 75% of shoppers a member of up to 10 loyalty programs, but they also spend up to 13% more than non-loyalty members. Tapping into this customer demand can yield major sales for your online store, especially if you’re able to offer a competitive rewards.

An important statistic to keep in mind is that 62% of consumers feel the brands they’re most loyal to have failed to fairly reward them. If you’re aiming for shoppers to spend more at your online store, you need to take proper steps to ensure they’re not only enticed, but that they’re properly rewarded and showered with appreciation.

 Loyalty Programs Encourage Repeat Traffic

 Your existing customers are the heart and backbone of your eCommerce store. Not only are they cheaper to maintain than acquiring new customers, but they also generate the majority of your store’s sales.

A loyalty program will encourage customers to return to your store not only to acquire more points, but to also spend those that they’ve acquired. If you offer a generous reward points program, customers will feel compelled to continually return to your store in order to maximize on the benefits of your rewards program.

 Boost Your Reputation

 A business’s reputation is fluid and ever-evolving, with small and large events, products and news playing a critical role in any customer’s perception. Implementing a loyalty program can instill a number of positive emotions in customers, such as trust, loyalty and confidence. Happy customers are customers that are more likely to spread positive reviews and recommendations for your products, and will inadvertently become your personal brand advocates.

Loyalty Programs Promote Positive Word-of-Mouth Advertising

 Offering a competitive reward points program will encourage customers to share and recommend your brand with their family, friends and social network, and lead to an overall increase in your store’s profits. Customers trust and value business recommendations from friends and family more than any other source of information, including online reviews and recommendations from media and figures of authority. The more satisfied customers you’re able to acquire, the more free word-of-mouth advertising you’ll generate for your store.

The post How a Loyalty Program Can Increase Your eCommerce Sales appeared first on Shift4Shop.

But although discounts and deals are tried-and-true tactics for generating buzz and driving sales, their use and effectiveness is far more global and expansive than their frequent threadbare usage.

Let’s take a look at some awesome ways you can use offers and discounts to increase conversions and drive traffic to your online store.

Abandoned Cart Discount

One of the most effective ways to lure an abandoned shopper back to your store is with an attractive offer. There are a number of reasons a customer may have abandoned your shop, but sometimes, all they’re looking for is a little incentive to shop at your store rather than your competitors. An abandoned cart offer can be a percentage off (15% off), a flat discount ($10 off $25+) or even free shipping – just be sure your offer is exciting enough to demand action rather than encourage hesitancy.

Social Media Offer

Social media plays an important role in your business’s marketing strategy and success. A great way to bolster your social presence and encourage customer engagement is to offer a compelling discount to those that share, “like” or comment on your social content. This is an easy way to generate buzz for your social account, and can help grow your fan base in addition to your sales.

Upsell and Cross-sell Discounts

Customers who have just made a purchase from your store may be interested in related products, particularly if they’re offered them at an attractive discount. Showing customer appreciation, particularly to those who have just purchased from your store, is crucial to building and maintaining lasting relationships. Why not reward and assist your customers by offering a product suggestion that’ll not only benefit their wallets, but build loyalty at the same time too?

Refer-a-friend Offers

To remain competitive in the eCommerce market, it’s essential that your customer base is ever-expanding. Offering a refer-a-friend discount to a referral and the referee is an excellent tactic for growing and expanding your business. You may want to offer an incentive such as “refer a friend, and you’ll both get $10 off your next order”, or possibly a 10% discount code for every referred customer and a 25% discount for a customer’s very first order. The more appealing your offer, the more likely you are to acquire brand ambassadors that’ll advertise your brand and business.

Holiday Offers

The holidays are a popular time to offer competitive discounts, promotions and offers. But the year is chock-full of fun, unique and occasionally bizarre holidays that are rarely, if ever, exploited. Take time to explore which major events you’d like to participate in, including major ones such as St. Patrick’s Day, Veteran’s Day, Black Friday, and even uncommon holidays like World Peace Day, Universal Children’s Day, or National Chocolate Day – there are hundreds to choose from!

Customer Loyalty Offers

As we previously discussed, customer relationships are key to your short and long-term success. It’s incredibly more expensive to acquire new customers than it is maintain your existing ones, so take time and effort to occasionally offer discounts that encourage continued loyalty. Send these emails weekly or monthly and track your results, which will allow you to fine-tune your efforts if necessary.

AOV Discounts

 One of the easiest ways to boost your store’s average order value (AOV) is to offer a discount to customers whose orders exceed a certain dollar amount. Your advertised offer may be a flat discount ($25 off an order of $100+) or even free shipping (free shipping on orders $25+). Studies show that customers frequently exceed their total anticipated cost in an effort to meet a discount’s parameters, particularly to acquire free shipping.

Mailing List Offers

Email marketing is an essential tool for growing your online business and is the second most effective marketing channel behind search. One of the easiest and quickest ways to build your mailing list is to incite sign-ups with an appealing offer. With a large mailing list, you can target new or specific customers, and encourage repeat traffic with a continual supply of promotional emails, which will help secure your business’s long-term success.

Exclusive Discounts

Psychological marketing tactics, such as creating a sense of exclusivity, can be a powerful tool for motivating and encouraging customers to purchase from your store. Offering discounts exclusive to your Facebook fans (via your Facebook page) or your Twitter followers incites a positive emotion that promotes loyalty and encourages social media engagement. The more attractive your exclusive discount, the more likely your fans are to positively promote your business with their own social network.

Pre-launch Offers

If you’re just getting ready to launch (or re-launch) your online store, offering a pre-launch discount is an awesome way to generate buzz and increase launch-day traffic. If you’ve already accumulated a mailing list, you may want to send a newsblast, and/or create an awesome banner that advertises your limited-time offer, which will in turn encourage sales by creating a sense of urgency.

 Conclusion

If you’re looking for new, creative ways to help your business grow and prosper, try implementing some of the above promotional offers. There’s no need to adopt all of the above tactics – in fact, it’s highly advised you don’t! Take careful steps to ensure whatever offer or discount you implement not only benefits your shoppers, but your own business and wallet too.

As you would with all aspects of your eCommerce business, track your results and modify your marketing approach when needed. The success of your store depends a great deal on the appeal of your offers, so get to creating awesome deals your customers won’t want to pass up.

The post How to Use Offers and Discounts to Drive Sales and Generate Buzz appeared first on Shift4Shop.