The customer´s point of view

Written by graphicsxpress1April 1, 2021
Marketing

Photo by @dashapats on Twenty20.com

People dedicated to the world of technology are, many times, not very aware that what we do is not for ourselves. This not only happens with web developers, for example, but also with professionals dedicated to the use of technology for different purposes by people or organizations, such as designers, communicators and advertisers who work in online advertising, social networks and, ultimately, for the recipients of the messages.

It is a common mistake to assume that the other “has to understand me”, because we speak the same language. But the truth is that in every act of communication between a sender and a receiver, there is a channel and a multiplicity of factors that can mediate the message, distorting its original intention and meaning (by the way, the sender, receiver and channel, when talking about communication, is a conceptual loan made from electronic engineering, to explain how the exchange and flow of information between people is). One of these mediations occurs when, for example, a web page developer does not think about the maximum “friendliness” of the page with the user when writing their codes, or when a designer does not distribute the elements of the page well, makes sure that the texts are complete and that there are no spelling and writing mistakes, something that communicators and publicists, in any case, must guarantee from the beginning of the whole process.

So, at the end of the day, the matter is simple: the first step for what we do to be successful is to put ourselves in the place of our user. It is common, due to anxiety, pressure and even pride or ease, to forget it. At Graphicsxpress, of course, we always keep this in mind.

For more information contact us. We are Graphicsxpress.

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5 Social Media Tips You Should Be Using

Written by graphicsxpress1January 5, 2021
Social Media

Photo by @Leo  on  Twenty20.com

Do you have the latest social media marketing? – Here’s some you should certainly add to the list if you want to enjoy success.

#1 Have a plan for your social media channel – Many companies find it overwhelming to have to create content for their social media channel. Worse, some companies create one type of content and then send it out across their social media platforms. You need to be creating a plan for a social media channel. Your plan needs to include choosing a channel (i.e. Facebook), the goal (i.e. sales goal), who you are targeting, the structure, type of content (i.e. video), your tone (i.e. funny), the desired action (what behavior do you want from the user) and your channel integration.

#2 Consistently deliver content – One of the quickest ways to grow the number of followers you have is to be consistent. Put the proper system in place to make sure you are always providing relevant posts that are valuable and interesting to your audience. Don’t overwhelm your followers by providing the same types of posts repeatedly, instead of managing your categories and make sure you are not repeating posts.

#3 Strategically implement hashtags – One way to help to increase your social media success is to avoid random hashtags and instead use a strong hashtag that will tie your campaign pieces together. Use a hashtag that’s both easy to remember and easy to spell. Make sure it’s not already being used by someone else. Once you have your hashtag created you should follow the conversation and then join it.

#4 Host a private hangout on-air event – The success of social media is often linked to having an open dialogue with the right people. Google+ is a great tool to help you build lists. You can do this in a number of ways. One that works great is to combine Google+ hangouts on air with a private community to ensure you have an open dialogue with the right people. Get away from the general chatter and engage the right audience.

#5 Try Pinterest and see if it works for your brand – Pinterest is a popular social media channel, especially among women. You do not necessarily have to have something visual to show to be successful with Pinterest. Play with it, experiment, see if it can be helpful in branding your product.

There you now have 5 excellent tips that should be part of your repertoire for social media marketing success.

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Choosing A Web Host Is Simple With These Tips

Written by graphicsxpress1May 23, 2019
On-Line Marketing , SEO

Photo Credit: By Djordje Petrovic On Pexels. CC0 License

Are you choosing a web host? Do you want to set up a site which allows you to send emails to customers automatically? Well, you can, if you choose the right web hosting service. Keep reading to find out what sets web hosts apart and which features you need to run your site efficiently.

Instead of finding a great web hosting company, start your own web hosting company to service your own needs. This can provide many benefits including secondary income and free web hosting if your business takes off. This is a great way to think like an entrepreneur, and make some money instead of paying for web hosting.

Always have a backup plan for web hosting providers. In the event that you experience significant and ongoing problems with your hosting service, you will want to have an alternate already researched. If you are without service for more than a day, start immediately putting your backup plan into action. This will save you the potential for even longer delays if your provider has serious problems.

A good web hosting service should bill you professionally. You should be able to log in with a username and password to have access to your account balance and make secured payments. If you have to send PayPal payments every month without getting account statements, you are not dealing with a serious web hosting service.

Think long and hard before deciding that you want to launch your own web hosting service. This can seem tempting, until you realize that you will likely spend inordinate amounts of time dealing with this service, rather than focusing on the business that you already have. Use the expertise of those who have been doing it for years, and pay them what they are worth.

Read the terms of service when dealing with a web host who offers “unlimited” services. Many times web hosts will offer unlimited bandwidth or sometimes hard disk space. Read the terms carefully, as they may reserve the right to ask you to upgrade your plan if you are a higher profile customer, that has increased usage.

When you are choosing a web hosting company, it is important that you rely on more than just one or two pieces of advice on a recommendation. Many recommendations are from people who haven’t even experienced the web hosting company that they are recommending. Choose wisely, do your research, and know many things about the company that you choose.

If you’re going to use a free web host, make sure that you know all of the restrictions about site content, as different hosts have different rules about what you can post, especially in the areas of music or video, as streaming those can take up bandwidth. If you know the rules, you won’t be in for any surprises.

As you’ve seen, web hosting companies offer different things that can fit your needs and maximize your service. Use the tips above to find the right hosting company and get ready to take your online business to the next level.

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Reach Customers Efficiently With This Mobile Marketing Advice

Written by graphicsxpress1May 23, 2019
On-Line Marketing , On-Line Working , Social Networking
Young woman holding shopping bags in front of a search bar. E-commerce concept

A mobile marketing campaign is a great way to reach a large number of people with very little money or time invested. Most people now own some type of mobile device, including cell phones and tablets.

Integrate your mobile marketing efforts with your other marketing plans. By having mobile marketing blended with online or print marketing, you present a consistent message to your customer or client base. At the same time, allowing your customers to perform the same activities via multiple channels such as mobile applications or web sites further increases the value of your customer interactions.

Enhance your text messages with other forms of communication. Make use of multi-channel marketing. One form of communication isn’t enough for today’s audience. Each style of communication has its own set of pros and cons. This is why it is best to use more than one. Try sending direct mail, e-mail and a text right before something important happens.

Have a goal. Do not start a mobile marketing campaign until you know exactly why you want to have one. You may want to have extra revenue or draw in more readers, but whatever the reason, you need to track the information you receive to find out if your program is really successful.

Let customers give you feedback. Some mobile marketers have outgoing only messaging, meaning that a customer cannot text them back without going through a lot of hassle. Let your customers talk back to you to improve the focus of your plan, and know if you may need to do something differently.

Develop an app. Apps are programs for mobile devices that interact with customers in many different ways. They provide easy access to your business through the program the customer installs on their phone. Make your app useful and appropriate to attract the most attention and downloads from your current and potential customers.

Make sure your customers know their business is appreciated. Give them special offers, discounts based on hallmark goals or even a simple thank you note. They need to know you value their business or they may take it to someone who will go that extra step.

Keep your material clean in order to keep your brand clean. Sending out raw, unfiltered material, even if you think it’s worthy of attention, can be detrimental to your mobile marketing efforts. Things don’t have to be outlandish to draw attention. They just have to be worthy of someone’s time.

If you often have great sales or giveaways, consider using SMS to get the word out. Text messages shine in their ability to cut through the clutter of an otherwise busy, application-filled mobile device. The messages usually trigger a pop-up notification on the system, making SMS a terrific choice for getting the word out about a sale that can’t be missed. But be careful to only text message customers who have signed up to receive them, as many people feel SMS mobile marketing is invasive. It could have the opposite effect than your intent.

You should expect mobile marketing to grow since the use of mobile platforms keeps increasing. Within the next few years, most people will own a smartphone. The best way to take advantage of this trend is with a solid mobile marketing strategy. By using these tips, you will be ahead of your competition and in position to effectively promote your products through this new form of marketing. Good luck with your mobile marketing campaign.

 

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Why Branding Is Crucial in Niche Marketing

Written by graphicsxpress1July 26, 2018
Business , E-commerce

When it comes to branding, most people tend to think of big brand advertising: Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Microsoft spend money on branding. But it doesn’t really apply to smaller businesses – or does it?

Believe it or not, branding is actually crucial to success in a small industry. In this article, you’ll learn why that is, plus several of the big benefits of having strong branding in a niche.

 

  • Your reputation precedes you

Once your site has been around for a while, your reputation will precede you. That means that before someone even lands on your website, they will have heard about you.

They’ll probably already have an opinion about you and your products. What that opinion is depends on your brand. If you did a good job, they should ideally think your products are high quality and that you can really solve their problems.

In other words, your brand can have a huge impact on your conversions.

 

  • Type-In traffic

Many beginning marketers have a hard time believing that type-in traffic can be a big traffic source. In reality however, a business that’s been around for a while and has a strong brand often gets more traffic from type-ins than from paid marketing.

For example, Amazon.com gets a lot more traffic from people typing in their domain than people who end up there from ads. In much smaller markets, the same applies: people know your brand, know that you can help them and type in your domain.

This is a huge traffic source in the long run. The only way you’ll do well with this traffic source is to manage your brand well.

 

  • Networking benefits

Who would you rather meet in person or do a favor: Someone in your market who you’ve never heard of, or someone who you’ve heard of who has a great reputation?

Having a reputation that precedes you will open many doors. It’ll open doors to guest blogging on other people’s sites, to affiliates, to JV partners, to speaking opportunities, to free backlinks and a lot more. You’ll even have people approach you to do brand new business deals.

 

  • You are your brand

It’s important to realize that building your business’s brand means also building your own brand.

Not only will this open doors for your business, it’ll also open doors for you professionally. Need a book deal? If you have an existing reputation, it’s much easier. Need investors for your next venture? Want to steal a top-notch programmer from Google to work on your start-up?

Whatever it is you need in your life, by building a strong brand in your business, you’ll automatically be seen as more credible in just about anything you do in the future.

The effects of a powerful reputation can’t be emphasized enough. It’s definitely less measurable numerically than ROI or traffic, but its power is there. Don’t overlook it just because you’re in a small market.

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How Article Marketing Works

Written by graphicsxpress1June 22, 2018
On-Line Marketing

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash License

Article marketing is one of the easiest and fastest ways to get traffic to a brand new website. It’s used both by beginning marketers and by multi-million dollar companies.

What is article marketing? How does it work? Let’s go over a broad overview of the basics.

How It Works

The term “article marketing” actually encompasses a pretty wide range of different techniques. In the broadest sense, any time you’re distributing articles with a link back to your website for the purposes of SEO, branding or traffic, you’re using article marketing.

Article marketing, when done well, can consistently drive hundreds if not thousands of visitors to your site. Because you’re getting more backlinks, you’ll also rank better in the search engines. Finally, because people keep seeing your name on different sites all over the net, you’ll build your brand.

Why Put Articles on Other People’s Sites?

Why put articles on other people’s websites, instead of on your own? There are a few reasons.

First of all, if your site is relatively new, it doesn’t yet have the weight and reputation that some of these other sites have. Other sites already have backlinks, longevity and reputation.

In other words, the same article that might rank in the top five on someone else’s site may not rank at all when it’s placed on your site, simply because your site doesn’t pull the same weight (yet).

Also, if you get your article on someone else’s website in your industry, you get to tap into their existing reader base and existing base of traffic.

Finally, the one-way backlinks you get by writing articles for others can make a big different in your rankings.

The Process from A to Z

The process of article marketing usually looks something like this:

First, you start with a title or keyword that you want to target. The title is attention catching, designed to get people from search engines or other people’s sites to click on the article. The keyword should also be carefully chosen to maximize search engine traffic.

You write the article; doing whatever research you need throughout the process. The final article should be at least 400 words long, preferably as long as 1,000 words.

The article is then submitted to other site(s). These can be sites of other bloggers, other industry websites or just article directories.

Once your article gets ranked, you’ll start to see a consistent flow of traffic coming in from the articles and from search engines.

That’s an overview of the overall process. Of course, each segment has its own quirks and challenges. For example, how do you choose a good keyword? How do you get someone to click on the link to your website? How do you get other bloggers to let you write on their blogs?

In this article series, we’ll explore these questions in depth and a lot more.

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4 Steps to Lower Your Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate

Written by graphicsxpress1April 19, 2018
E-commerce , Graphic Design , On-Line Marketing , Web Design

Photo Credit: By mohamed_hassan on Pixabay. CC0 license.

The shoppers are on your site, they are interested in the product, but the design of your shopping cart is causing you to lose many if not most of your customers. Sound familiar? It should.

The shoppers are on your site, they are interested in the product, but the design of your shopping cart is causing you to lose many if not most of your customers. Sound familiar? It should.

Recent research indicates that the average e-commerce site is losing near 75 percent of its shoppers during shopping cart phase of a transaction. While that statistic is probably influenced upward by a few terrible websites, the fact remains that most sites are losing huge numbers of customers by not focusing on their shopping cart. Fortunately, by taking a few relatively minor steps, you can vastly decrease your shopping cart abandonment rate.

Fewer Steps are Better

This mantra is as old as e-commerce itself. By forcing your customers to go through multiple pages you will assuredly see some attrition. You should ask yourself, is all the information I am collecting absolutely necessary? Is there another configuration that would reduce the number of steps my customers will face? Surprisingly, however, this is probably the last step that you should take. Unless your process is particularly laborious, empirical studies indicate that this will likely affect your attrition minimally for the cost and effort required. So, I am not saying not to reduce your checkout steps, but only that you should prioritize the other steps above this one.

Progress Indicators

In both e-commerce and brick and mortars, the single biggest inhibitor to conversions is uncertainty. This is certainly easy to imagine when you consider some brick and mortar examples. BestBuy stores have transitioned to a single line for all of their cashiers rather than having customers pick a cashier to line up in front of. Why? The answer is simple, uncertainty hurts conversion rates. Humans have an instinctual desire to know what is coming ahead. By including a progress indicator at each and every step of the checkout process you will see some remarkable increases in customer retention. Even if you have a 10 step checkout process, letting customers know where they are along the process will ensure a much greater number of completions.

Shopping Cart2

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Shoppers respond to sensory stimulation. People like to take things off the shelf and inspect them. Because that option isn’t available for e-commerce sites, you need to compensate for this deficiency as best as possible. One way to ensure better conversions is to include pictures not only in the store but also in the cart. Shoppers, especially those new to e-commerce want to verify and re-verify that they have made the correct choice.

Photo Credit: Bygeralt on Pixabay. CC0 License.

Many of these customers are lost if you force them to use their browsers back buttons to do so. By placing a picture of the item to be purchased within the shopping cart, much of this need is alleviated, meaning lower abandonment for you.

Provide Total Cost Estimates Early

One of the most overlooked concerns of customers is their distrust of e-commerce sites when it comes to shipping. Maybe it’s the years of telemarketers selling garbage products for close to nothing and then making their profit on the shipping. Whatever the reason, it is important to allay fears of hidden costs as soon as possible by providing your users with a total cost estimate earlier rather than later. Is there something to be said for bringing the customer in with a low-ball lead price? Yes. But after the leader it is important to let customers know what they are really paying as early as possible so as to give a few moments to acclimate to the increase.

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Making Your Customers Feel Special

Written by graphicsxpress1April 6, 2018
Business , Customer Service

Photo credit: by bruce mars on Pexels. CC0 license.

The idea of marketing to a specialized niche of very active customers and then using that base to recruit in a viral way is new to the internet but one that goes way back in the non-internet world of marketing.  It is well known that if you create an elite group of dedicated customers, they will become a recruitment army for your business and become your marketing team that works for free without even knowing they are doing so.

This approach to marketing is not as focused on email communications as many of our internet marketing efforts were ten years ago.  But that is a good thing for two reasons.  The first reason is that dynamic marketing, meaning selling through a relationship model is far more effective and yields a higher per sale basket total as well as a much higher incidence of repeat sales than cold call selling and it is far less frustrating.

The second reason is that using email as the backbone of your sales program has become more and more problematic because of the influence of spam and spam filters which have made the free flow of marketing emails much more difficult to manage.  Because spam filtering has become so aggressive and so successful, email delivery of marketing material is harder to do and takes a greater investment of time and ongoing knowledge that pulls you away from your customers and from your businesses.  So the migration to dynamic selling and away from cold call and mass marketing email techniques is a natural evolution of the internet marketing model in the new century.

So the online experience of your customer takes on a greater importance in your marketing plan.  But you will find that devoting more time and money to building a web “place” that your customers participate in actively will be far more rewarding than any scattershot approach to email marketing could ever be even before the eruption of spam which made email delivery such a nightmare.

One way to give your customers the feel of being part of your organization is to build a specialized membership area of your web site that customers must make an extra effort to become part of.  In fact, many online retailers actually charge a small fee to be part of this membership site.  That is effective because the fee gives your members the sensation of being part of a closed community and the revenue is good for your cash flow.

Your customers who chose to become part of the membership area of your web site should get some special privileges and rewards for their elevated status.  So you might create a discount card that creates a desire to spend more in your online store only for those customers who are part of the elite membership area.  Your customers will think they are getting something very special when in fact, all you are doing is exchanging a small part of your mark up for greater volume of sales which is always a good tradeoff for you as a retailer.

One of the big values of creating a membership area is that those who populate that membership can become part of the team to make contributions about future product or service offerings.  This is tremendously valuable to your development teams because the more you “pick the brains” of your customers, the more you will offer products or services that are going to be a success when they hit the market.

You will see a greater sense of brand loyalty grow out of the people who enjoy exclusive membership in your reserved area of your web site.  Make it a point to make that part of the site look elegant and luxurious.  Its all just graphics but in cyberspace, graphics have a reality all their own.  And don’t take your eye off of the goal of using the membership area for recruitment of new customers through referrals or to take marginal customers and make them devotees as well.  A few gift memberships can go a long way toward accomplishing those goals.

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What Makes a Successful E-Commerce Website

Written by graphicsxpress1February 3, 2018
Business , E-commerce

 

There are many ways to create a successful E-Commerce but there are four crucial points that you should keep in mind while launching your website.

  1. Website

Your website is like your showroom, airy and attractive. When online, the equivalent of a showroom is an uncluttered website where the eyes can move freely up and down finding the details they need without much effort. It is extremely important that the website be easy to navigate since the surfer should not have to search for the product or details he or she is looking for. The website should project its products in a provocative way so the surfer wants to see more.

Place testimonials or photos of your product so people can create a positive image of its usage. If your products are guaranteed, post this information conspicuously.

  1. Your merchant account

This feature is a must for any commercial website because without it you will not be able to receive payment by credit cards. Reports show that as high as 99 percent of the trade online is done through credit cards. Hence, if you do not have a merchant account you lose business. You will need to be able to accept all major credit cards and without this feature that is not possible.

  1. Shopping cart and secure server

This is interconnected with the above. When you have a merchant account to accept credit cards, you will need an online shopping cart. This feature allows your customers to choose and place their chosen products in the cart just as one would do in shopping mall. This cart will, at the end of the shopping, total the products and give the total cost of the products chosen.

In order to have your shopping cart work well you need to have its software installed on your website or on the server that hosts your website. If you choose to have your own server you will need to have a certificate from Verisign and Thawrte, which encrypts the financial information given by your customers so they can feel safe while giving you this sensitive information.

  1. Payment gateway

This is another crucial aspect in setting up a successful E-Commerce website. The payment gateway is the link from your website to the credit card processor. This gateway helps information to pass from your site to the authorization center where the credit card is verified and then charged; after that the reply will come back to your website that the processing has been successful. A payment gateway will always check for details in credit card information and reject any discrepancy in the information. In this way it reduces the use of fraudulent cards by almost 80 percent.

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Benefits of Digital Marketing

Written by graphicsxpress1July 28, 2017
On-Line Marketing , On-Line Working , SEO , Social Networking , Virtual workspaces

Clearly the world of technology, digital marketing and social media is having a significant impact on how we behave socially, act as consumers and how we do business so it could be fair to say that any business that does not adapt to the new era of marketing and communications is in danger of losing out.  However, whilst I am passionate about all things digital I suggest you don’t blinker your vision and miss out on any traditional media that your customers and prospects use and what currently works.  It could be that a blended strategy of traditional and digital marketing can still yield returns for your business.

Here is how I see the 10 benefits of Digital Marketing v. Traditional Marketing:

  1. Level playing field.

Any business can compete with any competitor regardless of size with a solid digital marketing strategy.  Traditionally a smaller retailer would struggle to match the finesse of the fixtures and fittings of its larger competitors.  Online, a crisp well thought out site with a smooth customer journey and fantastic service is king – not size.

  1. Reduced cost.

Your business can develop its online marketing strategy for very little cost and can potentially replace costly advertising channels such as Yellow Pages, television, radio and magazine.

  1. Simple to measure.

Unlike traditional methods you can see in real time what is or is not working for your business online and you can adapt very quickly to improve your results.  For measuring traffic to your site you can use Google Analytics to measure specific goals you want to achieve for your website or blog and most packaged email marketing solutions provide good insight into how many people are opening, reading and converting from your emails.

  1. Real time results.

You don’t have to wait weeks for a boost to your business like you would have to waiting for a fax or form to be returned.  You can see the numbers of visitors to your site and its subscribers increase, peak trading times, conversion rates and much more at the touch of a button.

  1. Refinement of your strategy.

Basically anything that you capture in your customer journey can be reported on and honed for greater success at the fraction of the cost of traditional marketing.  After all, how annoying is it to get a couple of forms returned from a mailshot.  Marketing online enables you to refine your strategy at any point in time and see any improvements or opportunities for further refinement almost instantaneously.

By: Robbo75 for Business Zone

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