Canadian Retailer - Summer 2013 - 26

MYSTORE retailer's Guide vOL. 9.3: e-COMMeRCe

Take FIRST STePS TOWaRD MaRkeTINg
aUTOMaTION

Marketing automation is the holy grail for ecommerce businesses in search of greater efficiencies. When performed correctly, this strategy can
reduce labour costs, increase the lifetime value of
a customer, create better qualification of leads, and
foster stronger connections with customers.
And, despite the size of the operation or
the resources available, it’s definitely doable
for any retailer. There are, however, four key
things to consider when entering into marketing automation:
1. Which solution is best? 

There are dozens of e-commerce solutions
in the marketplace today, and they each have
their own unique auto-response features.
You’ll want to be sure to select the right solution for your business and amount of traffic
that you’re driving to your site.
2. e-news is good news 

There are also several key players in the
eNewsletter market. Despite which provider you
go with, remember that this is a wise investment
as today’s customer wants to hear from you in as
many different ways as possible. eNewsletters
are a great way to get your message in front of
them, allowing them to interact with your message when the time is right for them.
3. Where are your customers talking to
each other? 

There are five major social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest and
Instagram) with dozens of others. Finding
out where your customer is interacting with
the world, and where they may be looking for
you, is essential in getting your message in
front of them.
4. analyzing and measuring
performance 

There’s a myriad of third-party analytics
software providers that can help you make
sense of the reams of data you’ll be collecting. And, as we steadily approach the
days of big data and retailers’ ability to effectively mine the data for clear and pointed
insights regarding the customer, this step
will become increasingly important.
To automate your marketing effectively and
enhance the standing of your business, you’ll
need to find some way to tie all of these components together. Here are some first steps
that you can take to get your business on the
path toward marketing automation.
26 |

canadian retailer | summer 2013 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

IMPLeMeNT aUTO ReSPONSe

Each software platform has its own suite of
auto-response features. And comparing them
can be a little bewildering. What’s important
to note is that the software must be able to capture customer information and offer an easy
way to create drip-marketing campaigns.
In certain software packages, like ideaLEVER’s
CommerceCM, messages can be customized to
any number of variables: time (eg. It’s been 11
months since you purchased your battery and
this is a reminder that it probably needs to be
replaced), scheduled releases, thank-you messages, tell a friend or cross selling.
e-NeWSLeTTeRS

According to a study by the Aberdeen Group,
personalized emails increased click-through
rates by 14 per cent and conversion rates by 10
per cent. A compelling reason to find a way to integrate your database with your email software.
The two titans of e-Newsletters are, of course,
Constant Contact and Mail Chimp. Mail
Chimp provides a host of integration features
to off-the-shelf e-commerce platforms and will
allow you to pull data to help you customize
your newsletter campaigns.
SOCIaL MeDIa

As with the other pillars of Marketing Automation, each e-commerce platform has its own
set of social media tools. The key for business
owners is to understand that social media can be
a time consuming endeavor and is best coordinated with a management tool like Hoot Suite
or Sprout Social—each acting as dashboards to
help manage social network integrations.
Increasing your website’s conversion rates
while continuing to increase traffic is a surefire
way to build your business and increase your relevance as a retailer in the twenty-first century.
Implementing these tips and measuring their effectiveness will allow you to do this and will help
in reaching your customer with relevant and
meaningful marketing messages, while building
a lasting relationship with them.
ideaLEVER helps businesses communicate
with their customers and grow by developing
effective websites and e-commerce platforms.
It’s experienced and talented Web design
and programming teams created custom Web
software and software-as-a-service platforms
for content management and e-commerce. For
more information about ideaLEVER, visit the
website at www.idealever.com.

http://www.idealever.com http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Canadian Retailer - Summer 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Summer 2013