by Francois Muscat | Oct 18, 2019 | Ecommerce
Would you actually purchase something through the Instagram app? In March 2019, Instagram launched the checkout feature, which lets users checkout within the app.
Instagram has opened a whole new revenue stream for e-commerce sites. Instead of directing your followers to your website with “link in bio”, they can complete the purchase as soon as something catches their eye.
The checkout system is built into the app, which means that users can store their payment information. If a product is checkout-enabled, then an Instagram user will see the option to “checkout on Instagram”. If they tap to view more details and fill out their contact, shipping and payment information, the user can order through the app as well as check the status of their delivery within the app. The information that a user will see includes the estimated delivery date, tracking number, cancel order, initiate a return or request support from the brand.
Currently, only select e-commerce platforms have the feature. Some brands who are using it include Nike and cosmetic companies. The company is currently only selecting companies from America to try out the feature, so the rest of us will have to wait until there is a wider roll out.
Instagram has positioned the checkout feature as follows:
“Checkout enhances the shopping experience by making the purchase simple, convenient and secure. People no longer have to navigate to the browser when they want to buy. And with their protected payment information in one place, they can shop their favorite brands without needing to log in and enter their information multiple times.”
This will undoubtedly change the way e-commerce companies market their products online.
For more information about giving your digital marketing strategy an overhaul, contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 16, 2019 | Content Marketing, Ecommerce
As a content marketer, you have a dual purpose. Yes, of course! You want to create original, attention-grabbing, well-written, quality content! But, you also want that content to serve the aims of your business. Your content needs to sell.
That sounds simple enough. But, how well is your content serving your sales really? How well have you strategised it towards that end? One way to guide your hand, and to ensure that content is geared towards sales, is to work to match content to the buyer’s journey. Let the content speak to the journey at all its stages. Let’s make this clearer by taking you through the journey and briefly looking at how your content can move with the customer.
• First Signpost: Offering Solutions for Specific Problems
At this stage, potential customers are aware they have a need or a problem, and they need fulfilment or a solution. Perhaps they Google something like “affordable water purifiers,” for example. You, as a producer of competitively priced water purifiers, match them up with content that provides an answer to that need. You’ve met them at the first stage, you have their click, now you need to move them to the next stage.
• Second Signpost: Why Your Solution?
Now the customer has found your water purifiers, but he/she wants to know why yours is better than anyone else’s. Your content should be filled with ready answers to that question so that, whether they follow internal links on your website or search Google for comparisons, you can provide the information they need to assess your value offering.
• Third Signpost: Sealing the Deal
Your first and second signposts should have answered the initial questions satisfactorily. The customer knows that you are a better choice compared to your competitors. They’re ready to buy. All you have to do is make sure that your content, design and UX all guide them easily towards that final checkout.
• Fourth Signpost: Following Up
Start off with an email confirming the purchase and thanking the customer. Then follow up with whatever is necessary to add even more value. Do you offer free delivery? Are there products that can be added on to your water purifier? How can customers contact you for after-sale service? All of this information needs to go in your website copy and/or in your emails.
WSI OMS can help you to create excellent, SEO-beating, high-converting content. Contact us for help with your website copy, blogs, social media and more.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 14, 2019 | Online Marketing
Viral marketing is undoubtedly hit-and-miss and, therefore, we would never claim to have found a foolproof formula. It’s extremely gratifying and good for business when you do hit on a campaign that spreads like wildfire. But, there are no guarantees. So, there shouldn’t be too much disappointment when your efforts don’t go quite as planned. The next time you start working on a potential viral campaign, try to make the following points part of your approach:
• Don’t Leave it to Chance – Know Your Audience
If your campaign has any chance of going viral, it needs to be targeted. And, you need to know everything about your audience. What is the best time to launch for maximum impact? What does your audience want and need? How and why should they respond to your campaign? Make sure you’ve answered these questions thoroughly before you get going.
• Keep the Message Simple
All it takes is a single image or one simple meme to go viral. You need to focus on minimal information and maximum impact. Devise something that can be consumed, understood and interpreted at a glance, and that can inspire a reshare or retweet in a second. Don’t make your reader have to think about it for too long.
• Focus on Visuals
As a corollary to the previous point, in order to make your campaign as simple as possible, you should focus on powerful images and minimal text. Less really is more in this instance, and the old adage that a picture paints a thousand words is absolutely true. A single image that catches the eye and sums up the message will do a lot more than a paragraph of even the best copy.
• Let it Happen, Don’t Push It
Remember that most things that go viral do so completely organically – and often by accident. You can’t force it. You need to put your message out, having done all the necessary prep work, and then let it attract an audience naturally. There will be times when it won’t work and you’ll need to go back to the drawing board, but don’t let that worry you. As long as you’ve done your homework regarding your audience, you are more than likely to hit the target eventually. Your chances of doing so will increase each time you try, so keep at it!
WSI OMS can help you with your viral campaigns. Contact us to find out how.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 10, 2019 | Online Marketing
Behavioural marketing can take a bit of research and legwork, but it’s well worth the effort. Below, we discuss just three of the many ways in which investigating the behaviour of your audience and altering your marketing accordingly can be extremely good for your business!
1. You Can Up-Sell Through Remarketing
This is possibly the easiest form of behavioural marketing! And, everyone from Amazon to your local online shoe retailer does it. Simply put, algorithms enable you to sell more to returning customers on the basis of their previous searches, views and purchases. The more they visit, the more you can refine your marketing communications, the easier their buying experience gets, and the more likely you are to make more sales.
2. Segmented Content = Marketing Precision
The more you get to know about your target audience, the more you can sharpen and refine your marketing approaches to each segment. In turn, these approaches are likely to be more effective and lead to more conversions because of the narrower scope. How you segment your market depends on the specifics of your business.
Consider the case of Orbitz, an online travel website that experimented with serving different content to its users on the basis of whether they were working from a Mac or PC. Mac users were served more expensive accommodation options in their searches, compared to the PC users. This was reportedly on the basis of research that showed that Mac users were, by and large, more affluent and tended to spend about 30% more on travel.
Controversial though this case may be, it presents some very interesting ideas as to how you can divide up your market. It could be along the lines of income or perhaps gender or location – the exact methodology depends on you.
3.Direct Resources into Audiences That Are More Likely to Convert
Segmenting your audience on behavioural lines can also help you to focus your marketing budget on those sections that are more likely to convert to a sale. Once you get an idea of which part of your audience is most likely to spend, you can then, for example, place higher bids on pop-up ads directed at them specifically, while downplaying or eliminating ad spend that targets other, less lucrative segments. This may lead to slightly higher outlay, to begin with. But, with the increase in ROI would be worth it.
WSI OMS can advise you on all aspects of your online marketing operations. Contact us to find out more.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 9, 2019 | Copywriting
We’ve all had those moments when the inspiration starts to dry up just as the deadline looms. We also all come through it – in one way or another. Here are three things you can try to stop you from getting stuck and keep the inspiration flowing:
1.Remind Yourself That Writing Is Something You Want to Do
There is any number of jobs you could be doing, from cleaning toilets to selling insurance to balancing corporate books. However, you chose to be a writer, and here you are; doing what you chose to do. That, in itself. is a blessing few people have. So, next time you’re struggling with a tricky topic or client, just remind yourself of your fortunate position. As soon as anything becomes something you want to do, rather than have to do, it gets a whole lot easier.
2. Find the Balance Between What Your Client Needs and What You Like
As a writer, you need to write about what fires you up, about things that you find interesting, written in your own inimitable style. You may well say: “Yes, but that’s easier said than done when you’re filling a copywriting brief.”
The trick is to be inventive and find a way to join the brief to your interests and style. When you do so, it makes your job more fun. There is also a certain gratification in mining for and unearthing the connections between client demands and your own sensibilities.
3. Don’t Try to be Original
If you’re writing a lot of technical or sales-driven content, you may start to feel like there isn’t much space for your voice. “How can I make this original?” you ask yourself, leading to a lot of time wasted in staring at the screen, drafting and deleting whole paragraphs, and needless self-criticism. Just remember that you can’t help but be original. No matter how many times a topic has been approached by other writers, none of them see it or write it exactly as you can. Just put your fingers to the keys – and there you are.
WSI OMS specialises in great copywriting and all other aspects of online marketing. Let us help you refine your digital marketing copy.
