I have been hearing a lot of marketers talk about “social commerce,” which is exactly what it sounds like: using social media networks to help sell products online. This may sound like a relatively new idea, but when you take a deeper look, social commerce was actually introduced by Yahoo in late 2005. At the time, things like product reviews and sharing wish lists were cutting edge, but that was one of the early examples of combining social networking with online commerce. Technology has since evolved, but the idea remains the same. To understand how to succeed in social commerce, here are five tips for using social networks to sell products online.
Create Authentic Content
You want to create content that speaks directly to the customer you are trying to engage with. Think of your content as a conversation with someone, just online. For example, if you were to meet in real life, what would you want them to know about you at first? Would you jump into selling them something, or would you let them know who you are and what you do? The same idea applies to create content for your social media marketing funnel. First you have to introduce your brand’s story, then move into educating them about what you are selling. I like to use videos to make an introduction.
Tell Your Story
My brand’s story is based on the real-life events that led to starting our company, and it’s also about the impact we are creating by selling products online. I have learned that people like to connect with both the story of the brand and with me personally as the founder. If you can create content that people want to like and share, then you can begin to build your audience and leverage social media to sell your products.
Maximize Social Media
As you manage your brand’s social media channels, remember to post regularly, be authentic and engage your audience. You can create a community around your brand that will spread your story through word of mouth, eventually drawing in more customers. I have grown all of my social channels organically by simply creating content on my iPhone and sharing it on social media with like-minded people.
Leverage Microinfluencers And Bloggers
Another great way to use social media to sell products is to connect with micro-influencers and bloggers. These can be photographers, writers, artists, musicians or stylists that have a social following of 10,000 followers or more. I have found that they have a strong community of fans who engage with the content and trust what the influencer is promoting. I have even tested this theory on my own social media accounts. I posted the same video on my brand’s Instagram and on my own Instagram on the same day at the same time. The engagement on my personal page was three times higher than on my brand’s page. This isn’t surprising: People naturally engage more with other people than they do with brands.
Leverage User-Generated Content
When other people start telling your story, share what they are saying. It builds credibility with potential customers, which could lead to more purchases. One popular way to do this is to repurpose customer reviews or content that was created by micro-influencers. You can turn their material into clean, creative content for social posts or even paid media. I have seen an increase in conversion on my retargeting ads when I show people what customers are saying, and the same has been true about unboxing videos.
Over the years I have experienced how important it is to leverage social media to sell products online. The term “social commerce” has become increasingly popular, but this is still just the beginning. In the near future, I believe we will start to see major social platforms merge into commerce platforms. In the end, it will be the brand’s story and content that attracts users and creates loyal customers.
Marketing is becoming more analytical and more focused on digital marketing through organic search, voice and social media.
This year saw the release of new technologies like Google Home and the iPhone X. Digital advertising expanded gains made last year over television advertising, and markets rewarded brands that bet big on innovation and customer service (think Teslaand Amazon).
As 2018 approaches, there are a number of new marketing trends poised to make a significant impact on go-to-market strategy. Here are 18 of the most important trends to look for in the coming year.
1. AI takes over website messaging.
Thanks to tools like Intercom and Drift, marketers can already use artificial-intelligence-powered live-chat tools to communicate with customers. As this technology gets ironed out, it is likely that more brands will embrace AI live chat to better service website visitors.
2. Personalization goes to the next level.
A key tenet of account-based marketing (ABM) is providing content tailored to specific accounts or account types. As ABM principles go mainstream, look for content personalization to proliferate. Platforms provided by Adobe and Optimizely make it possible for marketers to recommend specific pieces of content similar to the way Netflix suggests shows.
3. Quant marketing goes mainstream.
The rise of quantitative-based marketing is upon us. Organizations like Unilever and Kraft, which previously relied on marketing “soft skills,” are now taking a playbook out of the tech world by building data-science teams to work hand-in-hand with marketers. Next year, quantitative-based marketing will continue to surge as organizations that focus on the data find it easier to grow.
4. Marketers begin developing augmented-reality content.
With the release of the iPhone eight and iPhone X, Apple has made it clear that they are betting on augmented reality (AR). As these new devices go mainstream, brands will begin experimenting with AR-sponsored and -branded content.
5. In-car ads become a new marketing channel for some.
Self-driving cars are on the horizon. The Waymo fleet of self-driving cars has driven three million autonomous miles and simulated over one billion miles. Uber recently ordered 24,000 Volvo SUVs to be outfitted with the latest self-driving tech. The Tesla Models S, X and 3, the Audi A8 and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class are all self-driving to some degree.
What will happen when drivers no longer need to pay attention to the road? They’ll consume content, of course, and with that content will come in-car ads. Watch for some brands to begin experimenting with this new marketing channel in the coming year.
6. Brands start to develop voice-optimized content.
Last year 20 percent of online searches were conducted through voice search. By 2020, that number is expected to increase to 50 percent. Just as marketers have optimized content for web 2.0 and mobile, they will start optimizing content for voice search as well.
For example, because voice search is easier than typing, searches tend to surface more long-tail content. By comparison, text search tends to surface sorter phrases.
7. Privacy protection becomes a major selling point.
There have been a number of high-profile data breaches in 2017. From the DNC email hack to the Equifax breach, cyber security has had a considerable impact on many aspects of our world. Moving forward, consumers will begin to favor products that protect their privacy.
If consumers don’t prioritize privacy, some government associations will, and many are already doing so. For example, a new law passed by the European Union called GDPR will have a major impact on what businesses must do to protect user data. Because of a confluence of factors, marketers will begin using privacy protection and data security as a value proposition across industries.
8. Instagram becomes a more valuable channel than Facebook.
Instagram is growing at an incredible clip. In 2017, Instagram announced that approximately 800 million people use the platform each month. Their latest tool, Instagram Stories, became more popular than Snapchat just one year after going live.
Since brands tend to see better engagement on Instagram than any other social media platform, and because of great advertising controls, Instagram is poised to become the go-to channel for brands interested in social media marketing.
9. Leading brands invest in live events.
Approximately two-thirds of marketers say that they will increase the number of live events they host in 2018. This is because marketers recognize that live events are one of the most effective marketing channels.
There is a reason that some of the world’s most successful organizations, including Salesforce, Airbnb and Google, host an annual event designed to bring existing customers, prospective customers and the press together under one roof.
The average cold email response rate is low, and it will continue to decline as email clients get better at filtering out junk mail. The best marketers develop integrated marketing campaigns that use a combination of email, digital ads and other channels to engage prospects in new and exciting ways.
For example, by using Twilio marketers can send text messages in addition to email. They can then retarget highly qualified prospects with custom audience ads offered by platforms like Facebook and Google AdWords.
11. Twitter dies a quiet death.
Twitter has been unable to grow users in 2017. The platform has focused on user acquisition rather than on making improvements to their ad platform. As a result, marketers are already using other social media platforms to connect with prospects. This trend will continue in 2018 as Twitter continues to struggle.
12. LinkedIn sees new life among B2B marketers.
While Twitter struggles, LinkedIn has made a number of great improvements to their platform. A site-wide revamp refreshed the LinkedIn user interface in 2017. The platform also saw good improvements to the LinkedIn ad platform. Thanks to these and other changes, B2B marketers will utilize LinkedIn more in the coming year.
13. Machine learning changes how marketers manage ads.
Why pay a digital marketing agency thousands to manage ads when a machine-learning platform can do it better? New platforms like Acquisio and Trapica promise to optimize ad spend through advanced machine-learning algorithms. Marketers simply need to set basic campaign parameters, and the platforms then do the work of identifying ideal audiences and effective creatives.
14. Predictive lead scoring makes marketers rethink lead routing.
Using predictive lead scoring, marketers can identify the prospects that are most likely to convert to customers. All that’s needed is an email address, and tools like Infer crawl the web looking for buying signals. Leads are then scored and sorted, so that only the most qualified people are passed to sales.
15. Virtual reality is called into question.
A few years ago, virtual reality was predicted to be the next big thing in content. While VR is popular in the videogame community, it has not gone mainstream. This is probably for the best, as it can be difficult for brands to produce content with a controlled point of view. Instead of virtual reality, augmented reality is slated to make waves next year. Look no further than Apple’s rumored AR glasses.
16. Consumers expect more from brands.
Thanks to a confluence of services, consumers will have increased expectations from brands of all kinds. Voice assistants, same-day delivery and on-demand content will mean that both B2C and B2B marketers must find innovative new ways to delight prospects and customers with nearly instant service.
17. Influencer marketing remains a useful strategy.
Nearly 95 percent of marketers who use an influencer marketing strategy believe it is effective. Brands interested in connecting with prospects via social media will continue to turn to influencer marketing. Influencers create compelling content that appears to be organic in many cases.
Consumers, especially younger ones, prefer content that feels less “staged” and more natural. The world of advertising is changing. It is moving toward subtle sponsored content promoted by influencers or micro-influencers.
18. Gated content falls out of vogue.
In the B2B world, gated content is how many marketers generate leads. But, some of the best brands, including Hubspot and Zendesk, are un-gating content in order to develop a stronger organic search presence in an increasingly crowded content landscape.
Conclusion
Unknown marketing surprises await in 2018, and some of these predictions will probably fail to come to fruition as technology and the expectations of consumers change. Nevertheless, many of the trends outlined here are likely to come to pass.
Based on current trends, marketing is likely to become more analytical, and more focused on digital marketing through organic search, voice and social media. In addition, new content formats like augmented reality and in-car ads will probably go mainstream.
Most B2B e-commerce store owners agonize over website design, bulk ordering, payment terms, and shipping. Copywriting isn’t top of mind. However, this one element of your B2B online store can make or break your bottom line.
Does your website focus on your company instead of your customer? If you’re rambling on about your company’s history, your technologically advanced products, your numerous accolades and press mentions… yawn! You’ve already lost the customer. It’s a common mistake many businesses make.
Glowing product reviews and awards provide excellent social proof, which should be highlighted. However, don’t forget that customers are interested in how you can help them more than your bragging rights.
Using “you” and “your” rather than “we” and “our” is more customer-centric. To further punch up copy, shift from passive voice to active voice. For example, “We’ve bought in bulk to bring you lower prices” can change to “You can buy in bulk at a low price”.
2. Selling a Product Instead of a Solution
Most customers seek solutions to problems. They want to know how your product can solve their problem. A list of features doesn’t always answer that question. Explaining how a feature or service will benefit them does.
Let’s say you rent out construction equipment that can be delivered on the same day. Which heading is more effective?
“We Offer Same-Day Rental of Construction Equipment.”
“Bulldozer Bust? Need Construction Equipment in a Hurry?”
The first heading isn’t bad. It tells the customer what the business offers. However, the second speaks directly to the consumer and immediately offers a solution to a building contractor on a tight deadline or with construction equipment that’s broken down.
3. Overly Long Copy
It is tempting to blather on about your business or product but, in e-commerce, less is more. People’s attention spans are shrinking. An e-commerce website needs short but powerful copy with attention-grabbing headlines and irresistible product descriptions.
If you’re not a natural-born writer, the good news is, it is a skill you can improve. Udemy offer short online copywriting courses that teach the principles of good copywriting including how to create killer headlines, landing pages, and calls to action.
If, however, you still struggle with long-windedness, hire a copywriter. Alternatively, consider setting up a B2B e-commerce store on a platform like Shopify. They offer visually-appealing e-commerce store templates for every type of B2B business. Following a set template will force you to keep words to a minimum.
4. Unimaginative Product Descriptions
Unimaginative product descriptions kill e-commerce sales. It’s at this step that a customer decides whether to hit the “add to cart” button.
Writing product descriptions is tricky. If they were only about size, weight, and color, it would be easy. Specifications alone don’t seal the deal. You need to entice the customer to buy your product, but without being flowery or deceptive. In other words, pimp your product description but don’t exaggerate. Exaggeration will lead to bad reviews from unhappy customers who receive a product that doesn’t live up to the hype.
To write persuasive product descriptions, you must understand your audience. A good way to do this is to create a buyer persona. A buyer persona lists specific characteristics of a customer or group of customers. Be as detailed as you can and create more than one persona if you serve different types of customers. The clearer your customer picture is, the easier it is to write targeted product descriptions.
5. Being Afraid to Inject Personality Into the Copy
Some B2B owners adopt a formal “business-like” tone to appear professional to a corporate customer. All this achieves is lacklustre copy. Don’t be afraid to inject personality into B2B copy.
The type of business and your brand image influences your tone. Some businesses naturally lend themselves to a light, quirky, or humorous image. A toy wholesaler can play around — pardon the pun — with fun branding. A stationery retailer may be more conservative but that doesn’t mean you can’t liven up the copy. A good copywriter can get a customer to fill their shopping carts with staplers and sticky notes lickety-split.
6. Using Too Much Jargon
Don’t try to impress customers with jargon. Just because you’re talking to business-to-business clients, doesn’t mean they want to wade through a bunch of technical terms, definitions, and in-depth product explanations. It results in heavy copy that’s tedious to read. Remember, customers are seeking solutions to problems. They’re not interested in a product’s technical details. They’re interested in how it will benefit their business.
Conclusion
The key to e-commerce success is more than just website design and a user-friendly interface. It’s also about the right words. Once you’ve nailed the copy, don’t forget to check grammar and spelling! Business-to-business copy with poor grammar is unprofessional. Even the best copywriters slip up sometimes. Use a tool like Grammarly to catch typos and punctuation errors.
Google and Facebook over the past year introduced tools to help publishers sell subscriptions on their platform, and so far publisher response to both efforts has been mixed.
Publishers contacted for this story praised the platforms for being communicative and committed to these products but also groused that the tools were cumbersome to implement and had limited returns.
“The people they’ve got on this are diligent, and they mean it,” said a source that’s used both platforms’ tools. “But I can’t tell my CEO we’re making meaningful progress.”
A heavy lift Facebook said early on, it averaged eight weeks for the participating publishers to integrate its tools, which let people subscribe to publications through Facebook’s fast-loading Instant Articles mobile format.
Many of the publishers that launched Subscribe with Google, meanwhile, still haven’t fully integrated its tools, according to Google. Part of the delay is that publishers have competing development and product priorities. But it’s also because the platforms’ tools are cumbersome. McClatchy had a 30-person person task force that spent three months getting the newspaper publisher’s 30 sites ready to integrate Subscribe with Google this spring. “That took some commitment,” said Dan Schaub, McClatchy’s corporate director of audience development, adding that he was pleased with the tests and the incremental improvement.
“No disrespect to Google, because it’s hard no matter what. But if I introduce ‘Subscribe with Google,’ my workload doubles,” said one source at a publisher that has experimented with both platforms’ tools. Google said it expected integration to take a long time since its tool is an end-to-end solution, but that it’s interested in integrating into third-party tools.
Early on, publishers said, Google’s tool also was limited by the fact that Accelerated Mobile Pages, Google’s mobile web framework, does not support a lot of javascript, a key ingredient in many publishers’ paywall solutions.
Modest rewards It’s hard for some publishers to shoulder this extra lift when the upside remains limited. Most publishers’ subscription signups happen on desktop (in part because publishers’ own mobile checkout experiences often are subpar), while Facebook and Google’s products focus on mobile devices.
Facebook’s alpha test yielded a 17 percent average lift in subscriptions, which should be taken with a grain of salt because Facebook generated few subscriptions to begin with.
“Neither Instant Articles nor Subscribe with Google is moving the needle for any of the publishers I’ve spoken to,” said a source at one publisher that’s considered using the tools. “It’s all incremental.”
Facebook also wouldn’t give publishers user-level data of who was and wasn’t in its control group when testing its tool’s effectiveness. One publisher said that Facebook’s reports often seemed more positive than what the publisher observed. Facebook disputed the claim that there were wide disparities between the results observed by publisher and platform.
Grudging praise
Many publishers contacted for this story said they were impressed by how the platforms adjusted their products to improve engagement and retention.
Google, for example, made anonymous user data available with a News Consumer Insights tool, which measures a publisher audience’s propensity to subscribe and which Google said thousands of publishers have used since it was introduced in March. “Them opening up the kimono like that is a big deal,” one source said.
Facebook, for its part, discovered that almost 40 percent of its initial test publishers’ subscribers did not follow their pages on Facebook, so it added an account-linking page to the subscription checkout flow to show subscribers more content from those publishers. It also gave publishers the ability to put subscribe buttons on their Facebook pages to use for flash sales or other promotions.
Having paywall in Instant Articles sends the message that publishers’ content is worth paying for; it’s offset by the fact that Facebook has been decreasing the amount of publisher content in the news feed.
“We should be benefiting from their algorithm changes,” said a source at another publisher that’s used both products. “If the broad effort to fight fake news and gaming Facebook is supposed to lead to [users seeing] more brand-name news, you can’t say they’re knocking it out of the park.” Facebook said it is weighing that as an option but hasn’t planned any tests to do so. By limiting the number of publisher pages that needed to have the platform’s code on them, Facebook said the integration time has been cut to under two weeks. In November, it will integrate with paywall provider Piano, which will open up Facebook’s subscription tools to a wider range of publishers. Google is readying case studies designed to show how a wider range of publishers can use the tools it launched in March.
It’s unclear when either product will become something any subscription publisher can use, though.
“Facebook and Google have been very good partners in this,” said Fran Wills, president of the Local Media Consortium, a publisher trade group that frequently partners with the two tech giants. “With any kind of technology, you have to start with a simple concept or a simple model and then try to make that work before you can start customizing and adapting to a lot of different needs.”
There’s always more to do with the money you have on hand. It’s even more apparent in a business setting. Budgets rule everything.
If you blow your budget then you’ll be in a tough spot.
Because of this reality, we’re always looking for ways to increase our revenue and supplement our income. With more cash on hand, you can hire more people, start more initiatives, breathe a sigh of relief.
In this article, we’ll explore affiliate marketing to increase your income so you have more cash to do the things you want.
Using Affiliate Marketing to supplement your income
Affiliate marketing is a multibillion-dollar industry that’s been proven to increase the income of vendors and affiliate alike.
It can go both ways. You can recruit affiliates to market your products or you can become an affiliate partner to promote the products of businesses that complement your own.
Both work to increase your revenue.
The key in both cases is to find the right partners. Once you do, you’ll need to track what’s working and what’s not with the right tools.
There are multiple platforms dedicated to finding affiliate offers such as Clickbank, Flexoffers, and even Amazon.
Before choosing an actual offer, make a choice about what type of affiliate offer you’d like to promote. This will help you narrow your choices to a manageable few within your niche.
Digital Downloads
This class of affiliate products pays a higher percentage of the sale amount because the cost of delivery and hosting is negligible. They also tend to be cheaper.
They’re online resources that customers can access instantly after paying for them.
They range from audio files, video files, or PDF files. An example is the entire Amazon Ebook marketplace or software such as WordPress plugins.
Since they’re relatively inexpensive, it’s easier to get the sale but you’ll have to sell a high volume to receive a sizeable income.
Hosted or professional services
Professional services are a great way to achieve another stream of income through affiliate marketing. Before you settle on a provider, it’s important that you can vouch for their services.
Professional services tend to be more expensive than digital downloads. Hosted services, on the other hand, are cheaper but tend to follow a recurring subscription model.
Choose services that can cater to a worldwide audience as opposed to only local clientele. These are professional services like digital marketing or SEO (search engine optimization). An example of a hosted service would be a product like Leadpages or Convertkit.
As an affiliate for a professional service, you’re usually paid for the initial referral and that payment is much larger than what you can expect from a digital download. Hosted services tend to pay over the life of the subscriber you refer so the payments are small but add up over time.
Online courses
This is a great way to earn a large affiliate income. Online courses are becoming more and more acceptable for adult skills development.
Many of them have a premium price point and pay close to half of the revenue in affiliate income. They’re very similar to digital products but with one distinction – they’re not downloadable.
Choose online courses from reputable providers in your space and market them to your current audience. Within a short time, you’ll have enough extra income to offset more costs in your business.
Physical products
Affiliate marketing started with physical products. They’ve adapted very well to the internet. The first thing you’ll notice about physical products is they pay a much smaller percentage than other types of affiliate products.
This is natural because there are more costs associated with manufacturing, storage, and delivery.
Choose products that are unique, premium, and noteworthy. Commodity products aren’t worth your time because the commissions will be too small.
Marketing your Affiliate Products (without distracting from your core business).
Affiliate marketing can be a full-time business and it is for many people. That’s not what we’re after. We’re going to look at a few ways to promote your affiliate products to increase your revenue without taking away time and energy from your core business.
I’d recommend not placing them as a direct offer on your website. This may dilute the effectiveness of your core offer. Instead, we’ll mainly market to existing audience members.
There are two ways to go about this.
1. The thank you page
There’s a psychological phenomenon known as the confirmation bias. This is a when we give more weight to things that confirm our current beliefs.
What does that have to do with affiliate marketing?
When people sign up for your email list or certain offers, they hold a belief in their head. Most times, that belief is you know what you’re doing and have good products.
On the thank you page, you can confirm this belief. Use copy that reinforces what they already feel by inviting them to get something you only offer exclusive members.
What is that something?
A low-cost affiliate product such as a digital download.
These should be less than a hundred dollars and directly related to what they just bought or signed up for.
Jigsaw Health uses this opportunity to give a discount to customers. Though it’s not an affiliate product, the same principles apply.
2. Email sequence
Email marketing should never be ignored. It’s an efficient and effective way to deliver your message at scale.
Naturally, it works to sell tons of affiliate products.
It’s tempting to get a new email subscriber and bombard them with as many relevant offers as you can. The logic is they’ll bite on something.
What’s more likely to happen is a massive amount of unsubscribes and spam complaints. Instead, build a relationship with your subscribers, choose a few products you believe in, and sell them over the long term.
There are a few things to keep in mind about email marketing:
The relationship is more important than a quick buck. If you treat your people right and recommend good products then they’ll stick around for the long haul and spend more money with you.
Find a good email frequency and stick with it. If you email too much then people will unsubscribe. If you don’t email enough then people will forget about you.
One call to action per email. The more calls to action you have, the less likely people are to click on anyone. It’s the paradox of choice
Automate it. Set up an automated email sequence for new subscribers. Introduce them to your brand, let them know what to expect, and recommend products that will help them right now.
Segment your email list. This is important so you’re always sending relevant emails to relevant people.
Constantly track and improve. You won’t be perfect on your first time around and nobody expects you to be. Keep tracking and testing your campaigns over time.
These are the most important things you need to think about when you’re setting up your email sequences. Over time, you’ll get better at it and you’ll see your income increase as a result.
Conclusion
There are countless demands on the time and resources of a business. Affiliate marketing is a proven way to increase your income with minimal effort.
Though it can be tempting, don’t allow affiliate marketing to take over your core business. That would be counterproductive.
There are a few essentials to keep in mind:
Choose a type of affiliate product that makes the most sense for you
Promote it as a complement to your core offer
Utilize email marketing as much as possible to sell and build relationships
Do you know any other ways to use affiliate marketing to supplement your income? What’s your take on affiliate marketing as a whole? Let me know and don’t forget to share.
Every marketer needs the right tools in order to succeed in running marketing campaigns.
Here’s a list of every marketing tool you need updated for 2018.
100+ Must-Have Marketing Tools
This mega list of marketing tools is categorized.
Check out tools for automation, email, ads, SEO, SMM, research, analysis and a ton more.
Most of these tools are either free or affordable.
Each tool alone has the power to energize your marketing successes. Together, these tools could add up to your winning formula for making marketing unicorns.
Recently, I was speaking with an executive whose team was involved in a major purchase decision. I asked him to describe his buying process/journey. He looked at me with an amused/quizzical look. “We don’t think in terms of a buying journey. We just have something we need to get done, part of it involves buying…..”
All of a sudden, it struck me: The buying process or buying journey is just an artifact invented by marketers and sellers to rationalize what we want to inflict on the customers.
Of course I’m being a little harsh here, customers do talk in terms of buying processes and journeys, but only because we’ve trained them in that–so they’ve adopted our language. But customers don’t really think in terms of a buying journey. Customers just want to get stuff done! They think in terms of projects, things they need to get done to achieve their business goals. Buying is sometimes a component of those projects.
Even if buying is the project, “We need to buy a …..,” they still think of it as a project, not a buying journey. (By the way, if this is how they describe the project to you, you are already very late in what they are trying to achieve.)
Several years ago, I was asked to speak to a group of procurement experts. As I listened to their discussions, the concept of buyer’s journey never came up. Here was a group of some of the most advanced thinkers in buying–people whose job was to buy, and they didn’t describe what they did in terms of their buying journeys!
Why is this important?
We are (or should be) trying to see things through our customers eyes, thinking the way they think, approaching things in a context that is meaningful to what they want to do.
In the “old days,” we were less sensitive, we focused on ourselves and what we wanted to do to our customers—we wanted to sell to them.
Then some guru came up with the idea, “Customers don’t want to be sold to, they want to buy…..”
Immediately, we adopted the “buyers’ perspectives,” we translated our language from selling to buying, using terms like the buying process and the buying journey to make us appear to be more customer sensitive. But, too often, they are thinly disguised terms of what we want to do to the customers. We want them to buy, we focus on the things that make them buy.
What if we changed our perspectives?
Our customers have projects–these projects are things they want to do, goals they want to achieve, changes they want to make, improvements to what they do. What if we started talking to our customers about their projects and plans? What is we started looking at how we could help them with those projects, help them to better execute their project plans?
Why do we need to inflict our language, regardless how politically correct, on our customers? Wouldn’t we be more effective if we worked with them on what they need to get done? Wouldn’t we be more impactful if we looked at things they way they look at things?
Ask yourself a question, when was the last time a customer described what they wanted to do as a “buying journey?”
Dave Brock is President and CEO of Partners In EXCELLENCE, a global consulting company focused on helping organizations engage their customers more effectively. Partners In EXCELLENCE helps it clients drive the highest levels of performance and productivity in sales, marketing, and customer service. They help organizations develop and execute business… View full profile ›
Succeeding with online sales isn’t easy so we looked at 3 examples of entrepreneurs who made it work!
It could be as simple as the right product at the right time, but success isn’t always only luck alone.
Succeeding with an online store takes the right initiative and know-how. Whether you’ve got a store online already or you’re just starting out, these businesses learned the hard lessons already, so you won’t have to.
Don’t let the name fool you, this isn’t ours! Envision Worship is a Shopify success story.
This is a small business selling powerpoint templates specifically to the churchgoing market and they’ve gone international since starting.
This is a great example of a business who honed in on their target market and took advantage of the gap in the marketplace. Starting with nothing but knowing there as an existing need was a great place to start, but it didn’t ensure success.
The owner’s advice to anyone starting an online business? Start looking at Search Engine Optimization first. Hire a professional SEO agency to really hammer this and then factor in social media marketing.
Their first sale was through Adwords but they grew their business through social media marketing.
For this kind of business where your competition is slim to none, social media marketing is the key. Earning rank for low competition keyphrases will not be hard but you may find your audience isn’t searching for what you do if it’s something nobody else provides.
If you’re in a similar position, then learn from Envision and first know your audience clearly. Then find where they congregate online and join the platform with your brand-new store, ready to sell them something they’ll want but don’t even know exists yet!
Universal Yums was not an overnight success but seemed to benefit from how common eCommerce became in recent years.
Launched in 2014 this site provides boxes of candy from various countries all over the world. They started with little-to-no-success until they found their golden goose: reddit.
After one of the two owners posting to a reddit thread about his business, he got 200 orders. From 1 reddit post!
They chugged along at a steady pace having established themselves to a point. While working full time jobs they kept at their fun side project.
Then over a year later, the other owner took to reddit for an AMA (as me anything). The volume of traffic that resulted is referred to online as the reddit hug of death. Within 30 minutes they had so many visits their website crashed!
Subscription based products are everywhere but this one worked because they kept at it until they found where their ideal users were. Once they discovered reddit was home to communities that love snacks and travel and purchase most of their products online, they knew they had struck gold. And now Universal Yums is a major operation making 7 figures with a full roster of employees.
Their advice? Apps, apps, apps. Make your processes easier with apps and you’ll save an enormous amount of time. Then find your audience and start playing catch-up with all your orders. And of course, use reddit.
Andie Swim is a bathing suit service/product. It’s a unique business model that allows them to offer high-end quality swimwear at a much lower cost than any competitor. And it lets women try the suits on at home before committing to buy.
The owner only launched in the fall of 2016 and they’re booming.
The entire company was developed for the same reason many are: Melanie Travis, founder and CEO of Andie Swim, went looking for something and couldn’t find it. What she couldn’t find was a little different though. While there is no shortage of places for women to buy a swimsuit, the process is not ideal.
After asking her friends and family they agreed that going to a store, trying a bathing suit on in a change room, and buying it based on how you look in a cramped space with bad lighting is not fun.
Add to that the uncomfortable anxiety of the change room curtain or door flying open, and suddenly something that should be fun is a nightmare.
Her store met a need with both product and service. With Andie Swim you get to try your products on at home and can send them back without charge. Your credit card info is vaulted so you’re only charged if you decide to keep one.
The process has been refined to combat fraud and theft and they now have a major presence in the women’s swimwear industry.
They succeeded because the owner learned a valuable lesson: only hire qualified website development professionals.
She started with a freelancer and quickly regretted the decision when she found out all the apps she needed to streamline her business model weren’t compatible with what was built.
By moving her entire online store to a prefab model and hiring professionals, she was able to integrate the right apps for her marketing and her accounting.
That time management was the key to her success as it allowed her to focus on what mattered. By refining her user experience, she finally got into a groove and has been sailing ever since.
If you’re launching a new store or your existing store hasn’t caught on, try learning from these success stories. Find your audience, automate what you can with apps, and learn to market yourself to the niche you identified before you committed your time and money to your business.
Remember what Andie learned: only hire skilled professionals and you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.
If you run into any issues at all, please get in touch. Whether the task is building the website or bringing users to it we have the experienced staff to make sure your store succeeds!
A few weeks ago, I saw a tweet with an unusual text in it. It displayed a company that automated tweets for a popular blogger who has been one of my mentors.
I tweeted back to that tweet but never received an answer back. That really got me thinking.
Do we get so busy that we become disengaged with our audience? Are using social media tools making us less engaged and not a good practice?
I quickly went back to scheduling posts on Facebook itself and the engagement level went back up! Now part of that is because Facebook wants us to spend time on their network. You can’t blame them for that!
Of course I loved the Buffer because it saved me time over the years. But is time everything when it comes to social media marketing?
Testing Agorapulse Social Media Tool
Next, I began testing out Agorapulse. I love this social media tool today! Not only does it give me great analytics to share with clients, but I can schedule tweets and it doesn’t show their name in them like the Buffer displays on Twitter. Agorapulse is also great for scheduling Instagram posts which can result in making less errors and saving you time. (You know typing on your mobile on the go sometimes can be tricky!)
Here is Mike’s Response to Me About Agorapulse and Social Media Engagement:
“We’ve done extensive testing of “Reach” because that’s something that’s easily tested, measured and compared. If you post very similar posts, the same way, at the same time of day, day after day… that’s comparable and you can draw conclusions from the data.
Agorpulse tested posting natively to all of the networks vs. using 3rd party tools and not only does the data show that there is no penalty, it’s suggestive that using a tool actually helps – though we think that’s an anomaly.
There really shouldn’t be any difference. A post is a post as far as the networks are concerned.”
Engagement is Something Else Entirely According To Mike!
“We sometimes schedule content for the reach tests that purposely avoids encouraging engagement so as not to skew the results. But crafting a series of posts that are supposed to get the “same” amount of engagement every time, and then schedule some using a tool to see if there’s a difference, seems impossible to reliably manage.
Which means the only conclusions others might reach are purely anecdotal or uncontrolled. “We started posting using Sprout Social and our engagement went down.” Really? What else might have changed? Did you post more or less? What were you talking about? What else was going on? Were you posting the same kinds of posts about the same topics? Did you stop doing something else? – So many clarifying questions which would have to be asked.”
Recently, I have started sharing some social media tips on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I am a big believer that you need to engage with your audience. Why just throw things up on the wall and leave? I see many social media management companies doing just that. They take blog posts that are canned and post them time after time. That’s it!
Now, I believe it is called SOCIAL media for a reason, to be social! Talk, engage, share, comment, etc. Do something, don’t just be passively throwing stuff up on the wall or feed on the social networks.
“The top professionals own the best gear. It’s the same with anything — sports, music or business. When it comes to Social Media; you can’t keep up with the trends if you don’t have the support of automation on your side…
It just isn’t practical to sit there all day posting manually!
However, that doesn’t mean 100% automation is a solid strategy.
(Far from it).
Always blend automation with the human touch — it’s a winning combo — and people will otherwise notice any imbalance.
I always say:
“If you’re on Social Media but not engaging, then you’re just media!”
Wisely choose your tools for the most time-heavy tasks, and perfect their application (while consistently researching new vendors).
It doesn’t matter how many you use — as long as it’s all sensibly balanced with your budget, business type, and level of interaction.”
“I think too many automation tools is not only a bad idea, but for many reasons. One, if you’re trying to game the social media sites you will get caught eventually. Two, if something bad happens in the world you might have an inappropriate and untimely post that you missed because you didn’t remember where you put it.
I only use two. First, I use Tweeten for Twitter (of course) because I hate using browsers for things like this. Then, I can pre-post articles and such on there and it works great. I also use Buffer, but I only use it for LinkedIn, since you can’t pre-post there. If you have a business page on Facebook you can pre-post there, so there’s no need to use any other automation services. I know some people use it for Instagram, but it’s problematic sometimes.
Finally, if the only thing you’re doing on a social media site is posting stuff and not engaging anyone, you’re missing out on the opportunity to actually meet potential customers. You don’t have to do it a lot, but having people see that you sometimes talk to others humanizes you and people will get comfortable with you.”
“Automating every aspect of your social media marketing can make you look like a spam bot, helping you lose contact with your audience.
On the other side, liking, following, commenting and engaging on every mention of your brand or social media post can be overwhelming and absorbing all of your time.
I think the right strategy should be somewhere in between.
Depending on your goals, try using some automation tools to increase your reach, while keeping authenticity by engaging with your community, every time is necessary.”
Use Social Media Tools to Engage Your Audience, Not Put Them to Sleep!
I believe finding the right blend as others suggested here on the blog is key to balancing your social media. I always tell clients you have to spend time or money. It’s either one. You must invest your time or money with social media marketing today.
Finally, be sure the social media tools you use today don’t put your audience to sleep. Be sure you have a way to respond to others when questions are asked in a timely manner. I go on each of the networks for at least 5 minutes to start the day. Not only on my own channels but those that I manage.
Then, I check notifications mid day and again before hitting my pillow. This can be done with Agorpulse too and they even have an app for it!
What do you have to say about the use of social media tools and engagement? Do you use tools only post to social media? I’d love to know more in the comments below!
Lisa loves helping others to thrive online through Content Marketing with Social Media, Blogging and SEO. What good is knowledge if you cannot share it with others? She has 30+ years experience in marketing/advertising with 8 years experience in content marketing, social media, blogging and SEO. Check out her latest eBook “How to Tweet and Thrive on Twitter” now on Amazon.
Looking for Best VPN (virtual private network) service for protecting Internet Privacy? Here this post we discuss How to choose a Best VPN service provider to protect your online privacy (Where we look things Encryption and Protocols, Logs Policy, Speed, Global Coverage, Cross-Platform Support, Customer Support and the most important is Cost.) Before go ahead for them Who don’t aware about VPN service, it’s typically a paid service that keeps your web browsing secure and private over public Wi-Fi hotspots. In other words:
A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the internet. VPN technology was developed as a way to allow remote users and branch offices to securely access corporate applications and other resources. Along with VPNs can also get past regional restrictions for video (Netflix) and music-streaming sites and help you evade government censorship restrictions.
The VPN server is operated by a VPN provider, and the connection between your computer ( smartphone, tablet, or similar) and the VPN server is encrypted.
You still need an ISP to provide your internet connection, and that ISP can still see how much data you consume.
But Your ISP cannot see what data you consume, however. This is because it is securely encrypted.
As the VPN server acts as a proxy, No one (include your ISP) cannot see which websites you visit on the internet. Your ISP can only see that you have connected to an IP address belonging to a VPN provider. It cannot see which websites you visit after that.
How VPN works?
The best way to think of a VPN is as a secure tunnel between your PC and the destinations you visit on the internet. Your PC connects to a VPN server, which can be located in the United States or a foreign country like the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, or Thailand. Your web traffic then passes back and forth through that server. The end result, As far as most websites are concerned, you’re browsing from that server’s geographical location, not your actual computer’s location.
And Once you’re connected to the VPN and are “inside the tunnel,” it becomes very difficult for anyone else to spy on your web-browsing activity. The only people who will know what you’re up to are you, the VPN provider (usually an HTTPS connection can mitigate this), and the website you’re visiting. For better understand you can see image below How VPN secure your Data Between you and internet.
When you are connected through inside the tunnel, it’s very hard to stealing your login credentials or redirecting your PC to a phony banking site Along with your internet service provider (ISP) And it’s near impossible to figure out which websites you’re visiting. With this, you can also get the benefits of spoofing your location And access regionally restricted websites and online services such as BBC’s iPlayer or Sling TV. Include Netflix (fighting against VPN) the American version of Netflix when they’re really in Australia or anywhere.
Which VPN Should I Choose, Paid Vs Free?
Still, now I am sure you are clear about VPN (virtual private network) And how this Service works and Secure your Internet privacy. Now let’s discuss Which VPN service you should choose Free Or paid VPN service.
Free VPN
For them who thinking about Free VPN, There are tons of free options from reputable companies, but these are usually a poor substitute for the paid options. Free services usually allow a limited amount of bandwidth usage per month or offer a slower service.
And the most important drawback is the low level of security. Most free VPN services provide only PPTP VPNs, which is insecure. Paid VPN providers allow you to use PPTP, L2TP/IPSEC, OpenVPN, SSTP and even SSH to tunnel your connections securely.
Free VPN-services create to attract a huge number of users, without thinking about the security of their service. Often, if not always, the traffic of users of these services is transmitted in clear form, making it available to everyone.
Any free VPN service is just a cover for a paid and perfectly working project. Therefore, you will always be shown paid VPN advertising. Perhaps even the use of VPN will be limited by time or traffic, motivating you to purchase a paid version of VPN, on which these restrictions will not be. We believe that advertising when using VPN is annoying, so we do not cooperate with advertisers in any way.
Paid VPN
And when you go for a paid VPN they primarily take care of your privacy. Where you get high-level security and allow you to use PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, SSTP and even SSH to tunnel your connections securely.
Paid VPN providers normally invest a decent percentage of their profit on bandwidth and servers, so you will get a very good internet speed with unlimited Bandwidth.
support is one of those things you pay for. When you choose a paid VPN service, you should expect someone to answer your tickets and do his job, while free services are usually provided “as is”.
Choose A Best VPN service for you
Things matter while Choose the Best VPN Service Encryption and Protocols, Logs Policy, Speed, Global Coverage, Cross-Platform Support, Customer Support and the most important is Cost. And after reading lots of comments on forums, a number of posts about “Best VPN service 2018” with user feedback review Finally I End up with ExpressVPN – A Fully featured, privacy-friendly VPN service. Here what impressed me
With best-in-class encryption and a strict policy to keep no activity logs and no connection logs, ExpressVPN comes to #1 Trusted leader in VPN with High speed, ultra secure, and easy to use.
ExpressVPN
Number of servers: 1800+ | Server locations: 148 | IP addresses: 30,000 | Maximum devices supported: 3
Based in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN ensures a totally private browsing experience. They keep no logs of your activity and are outside the jurisdiction of major nations. With a full suite of security features including military-grade encryption, perfect forward secrecy, a kill switch, and leak protection, you can be sure that nobody can see what you do online.
ExpressVPN applies strong encryption method AES-256 the military encryption standard, which can protect your data 360º completely. Multiple protocols including OpenVPN TCP, OpenVPN UDP, SSTP, L2TP/TPsec and PPTP are provided for you to choose from.
ExpressVPN operates thousands of servers in 148 VPN server locations in 94 countries and offers apps for all devices and platforms, like Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, and routers, in addition to browser extensions like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Also, ExpressVPN runs its own Zero-knowledge DNS on every server. That means your personally identifiable data is never stored on any server.
Superior performance with excellent speeds and reliability throughout the VPN server network.
High-security applications with maximum encryption (passed all privacy/security tests).
Excellent offshore jurisdiction and company policies to protect customer data and user privacy (which were recently verified with the server seizure in Turkey).
Still works with Netflix and other streaming services.
Huge selection of apps that are well-designed and very user-friendly.
Top-notch customer service with 24/7 live chat support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Does ExpressVPN work with Netflix?
Yes. ExpressVPN is one of the few VPN providers that continues to work with Netflix, no matter where you’re located in the world. If you get any kind of proxy error with Netflix when you are connected to an ExpressVPN server, just contact ExpressVPN’s chat support and they’ll tell which server to use instead. Plus, ExpressVPN is the only VPN service that lets customers use SmartDNS to unblock Netflix on
Also, ExpressVPN a solid choice for torrenting that offer
High-performance (premium) server network with exceptionally fast speeds and great reliability.
Overseas jurisdiction that is not subject to DMCA requests or copyright violation demands.
High-quality applications that will keep your data and anonymity secure while also protecting you against leaks and vulnerabilities (WebRTC).
No bandwidth limitations or traffic restrictions whatsoever.
That means using ExpressVPN you can Unblock almost every popular online services
Unblocks popular online services
ExpressVPN No log policy confirmed
ExpressVPN does not possess any customer connection logs that would enable that to know which customer was using the specific IPs cited by the investigators. As the company explains we were unable to see which customers accessed Gmail or Facebook during the time in question, as we do not keep activity logs. ExpressVPN issued a statement on their website, here is a brief excerpt:
We do not collect logs of your activity, including no logging of browsing history, traffic destination, data content, or DNS queries. We also never store connection logs, meaning no logs of your IP address, your outgoing VPN IP address, connection timestamp, or session duration.You can find more information on the ExpressVPN website (see Privacy Policy)
ExpressVPN encryption
ExpressVPN offers a very high level of encryption that is considered unbreakable by current standards. For encryption, ExpressVPN uses an AES 256-bit cipher with a 4096-bit RSA key and SHA-512 HMAC authentication. Additionally, ExpressVPN utilizes Perfect Forward Secrecy negotiated through Diffie-Hellman key exchange. If you want more information on ExpressVPN’s encryption implementation, you can find that on their website.
ExpressVPN split tunneling feature
Split tunneling allows you to select which apps will go through the VPN tunnel and which can bypass the VPN to the regular (unencrypted) internet. And ExpressVPN offers a split tunneling feature with their applications for Windows, Mac OS, and routers. By default, all traffic and applications are routed through the VPN. But you can manage this In the settings, select three different options:
All apps use the VPN
Do not allow selected apps to use the VPN
Only allow selected apps to use the VPN
If you click the second or third options, a pop-up window appears, allowing you to select the specific apps.
ExpressVPN network lock (kill switch)
ExpressVPN refers to their kill switch as the network lock that keep your data secure by blocking all traffic if the VPN connection drops. This ensures you are always protected. Once you are reconnected to the VPN server location, Network Lock restores your internet traffic automatically.
ExpressVPN Discount
ExpressVPN offers $12.95 per single month, while a yearly subscription cuts it down to $8.32 per month. However, through this discount link, you can now get ExpressVPN for $6.67 per month, which drops the VPN price significantly.
ExpressVPN Alternative
If you are looking for ExpressVPN Alternative, Then you can go for NordVPN.
Number of servers: 3500+ | Server locations: 60+ | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 6
NordVPN features
Privacy and Logging Policy, Where NordVPN states that they have a strict no logs policy. And the kill-switch feature available which is basically supposed to protect against revealing your real IP in case the VPN connection drops. It’s very useful in some cases and we understand the need for it. Along with this NordVPN offers some solid features to enhance user privacy and security. Let’s take a look at a few of these features.
NordVPN CyberSec
NordVPN CyberSec is a new security feature that includes a malicious sites filter and an advertisement and tracking blocker. It blocks DNS requests based on a real-time blocklist of harmful websites that may host malware. As such, it should shield you against malware, help prevent botnet control, and block many intrusive web ads.
NordVPN kill switch
NordVPN offering two different kinds of kill switches. A kill switch is important because it blocks traffic if the VPN connection drops, which protects you from de-anonymization and your regular traffic being exposed.
In the screenshot below you can see the two different kill switches:
Internet Kill Switch – This will block all traffic if the VPN connection drops (recommended).
App Kill Switch – This will close applications if the VPN connection drops, but will not block any traffic.
NordVPN kill switch
Double VPN (multi-hop)
Using a multi-hop VPN chain offers many advantages over a standard VPN setup (single server). If a server were to be targeted (monitored), a multi-hop VPN configuration would add further protection by helping to conceal incoming and/or outgoing traffic.
NordVPN currently offers 18 double-hop VPN configurations, which they list on their website. The drawback here is that these are not self-configurable. In other words, you can’t create your own custom multi-hop configuration.
Works Great for Torrenting and Netflix
Since NordVPN has a lot of servers they also work well with Torrenting and bypassing geo-restrictions on certain sites like Netflix. While use VPN together with Netflix it seemed to work: But not all servers are working with Netflix because we all know how Netflix fight against VPN services to crack down certain IPs that belong to VPNs.
Torrenting is safe and fast too, NordVPN has made special “P2P servers” that are solely meant for keeping your torrenting activities safe and private. You can access the P2P servers via “specialty” servers list on their application.
Nord does operate a large number of individual servers at over 4,000 Over 60 countries all over the world. So that you will not struggle to find a suitable location. Europe and the Americas are served very well, with the majority of countries covered, including a few options in South America. It’s great to see so many choices in the Asia Pacific region such as Indonesia and Taiwan, as well as several locations in Africa and the Middle East.
With Android TV app you can use it with devices such as Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick without any manual configuration. also use it with a range of other devices by connecting them to a configured router. This includes devices like AppleTV, Xbox360, Roku, Nintendo Wii, PS3, Sony SmartTV, Roku XDS, and many others.
NordVPN Offers proxy extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari. The add-ons for Chrome and Firefox are incredibly easy to download and add to your browser
Nord VPN offers a decent range of custom apps for various devices including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. With NordVPN’s fully-featured service, double VPN, VPN over Tor, DNS-based malware protection, Smart DNS, and more, all part of the very reasonably-priced package.
Enjoy 2 years of online security for only $95.75!
NordVPN offers three different pricing options. A one-year plan costs $6.99 per month, while a 2-year plan is $3.99 per month. To get these monthly rates, you’ll have to pay for the entire term of service upfront ($95.75 for three years). It’s possible to buy into the service one month at a time, but you’ll pay a punishing $12 per month for the privilege. That’s $143.40 per year.
NordVPN Save 66% discount linkGrab a 2-year plan, just $3.99/month! (30-day money-back guarantee) Payment can be made through a number of options including credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin etc.
NordVPN offers one of the most generous refund windows in the VPN industry. With every subscription plan, they give you a 30 day money-back guarantee. If you aren’t completely satisfied with the VPN, simply cancel within 30 days to get a full refund (explained further on their website). Therefore if you purchase a subscription, use it for a few weeks, and then cancel within the 30 day window, you will have technically used a short-term VPN for free.
Currently, ExpressVPN and NordVPN both are the Top players on VPN market where both provide almost every feature and security which makes VPN service perfect. The only different the Quality of the service and features make the small extra cost for ExpressVPN. If you have already tried these services lets share your feedback on comments below.
Note: Both ExpressVPN and NordVPN offer (30 day money-back guarantee) If you are not satisfied with their service you can ask for a refund within 30 days.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, Where we earn a small commission for every sell which help us to pay to host, CDN, Developer charges to light up the site and serve free articles to you.
“We’ve done extensive testing of “Reach” because that’s something that’s easily tested, measured and compared. If you post very similar posts, the same way, at the same time of day, day after day… that’s comparable and you can draw conclusions from the data.
“I think too many automation tools is not only a bad idea, but for many reasons. One, if you’re trying to game the social media sites you will get caught eventually. Two, if something bad happens in the world you might have an inappropriate and untimely post that you missed because you didn’t remember where you put it.
I believe finding the right blend as others suggested here on the blog is key to balancing your social media. I always tell clients you have to spend time or money. It’s either one. You must invest your time or money with social media marketing today.
