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Quotegine: Online Business Proposal Tool: Small Business Resource
May 18th, 2012 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichWhy Social Media Users Are Your Most Valuable Customers
May 18th, 2012 :: Rieva Lesonsky
By Rieva Lesonsky
You know social media can help spread the word about your business. But did you know customers who are active on social media are more valuable to your business because of it? That’s one of the findings of the 2012 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer.
While customers in general care more about good customer service than last year, and are willing to spend more money to get it, the stakes are even higher for businesses dealing with social media users. American Express found that people who have used social media for customer service at least once in the last year are willing to spend substantially more (21 percent) with companies they believe provide great service – in contrast with the general population (13 percent more) and those who have not used social media for customer service (11 percent more).
People who use social media for customer service are also much more vocal about customer service experiences, both good and bad. If they have a positive customer service experience, they’ll tell an average of 42 people about it; in contrast, consumers overall tell an average of 15. For negative experiences, the numbers are even bigger. People who use social media for customer service tell an average of 53 people about negative experiences; in contrast, the average user tells 24 people.
Consumers who use social media for customer service also have higher expectations for customer service in general. More than 80 percent of them have failed to complete a planned purchase because of a poor service experience, compared to 55 percent of consumers overall.
In addition, consumers who use social media for customer service are more likely to
Why do consumers use social media for customer service? The most popular social reasons were:
- Seeking an actual response from a company about a service issue – 50 percent
- Praising a company for a great service experience – 48 percent
- Sharing information about your service experience with a wider audience – 47 percent Venting frustration about a poor service experience – 46 percent
- Asking other users how to have better service experiences – 43 percent
Clearly, using social media for customer service can have a big effect on your business—both positive and negative. If you find customers reaching out to you this way, be sure to be responsive to their needs, because you can be sure they’ll spread the word—either good or bad.
Image by Flickr user sjcockell (Creative Commons)
Who’s Using Daily Deals—and How Can You Lure Them to Your Business?
May 16th, 2012 :: Rieva Lesonsky
By Rieva Lesonsky
Do you use daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial to lure customers to try your business? A new study from Edison Research, The Daily Deals Consumer 2012, offers some useful insights into who’s using these services, why and the potential impact on your brand and business. Here’s a closer look.
Nearly one in six Americans (15 percent) use daily deal services. Daily deal users are primarily in the 25 to 54 age group; two-thirds are women; and they have a higher than average household income.
Daily deal sites are most popular in the South, where 45 percent of users are located. Next comes the West with 22 percent of users, the Midwest with 20 percent, and the Northeast with just 13 percent.
Groupon is by far the most popular daily deal site, with 83 percent of daily deals users registered there. Forty-four percent use LivingSocial, and 12 percent use “other.”
More than half of users are relatively new to daily deals, having joined in the past year. Since they started using daily deals, most users (48 percent) say their purchasing habits have remained fairly steady, but 32 percent are using deals less often than when they first started, while 14 percent are using them more often.
Deals work–only 6 percent say they have signed up but never purchased a deal. As to how well they work, there’s good news and bad news. While 28 percent of users say they’ve tried a new business because of a deal, then continued to patronize it without a deal, 30 percent say they’ve tried new businesses once, but never gone back, and 28 percent say they use deals from businesses they already patronize. Daily deals can be a good way to get new customers, but you’ve got to work to earn their loyalty beyond the deal.
Daily deal users were substantially more likely than average consumers to own a smartphone or tablet. Because they’re so mobile, there are opportunities to reach out to them with “just-in-time” deals that are local and mobile.
Daily deal users spend more time online than average consumers (3.34 hours per day, as opposed to the average of 2.25), and 85 percent go online at work. They’re also far more likely to choose the Internet over other forms of media, such as radio, TV and newspapers. In fact, they’re also more likely to listen to Internet radio and watch online videos, which could lead to cross-platform promotional opportunities.
Not surprisingly, daily deal users are far more likely to have social media accounts than non-daily deal users, and spend more time there. Some 83 percent are on Facebook, 40 percent are on LinkedIn, 20 percent are on Twitter and 20 percent are on Google+. They are also twice as likely to follow companies or brands on social media. When you get a daily deal user hooked on your business, you have a great opportunity to reach their friends and family circles as well.
How are you using daily deals in your business?
Image by Flickr user Taro Taylor (Creative Commons)
Why You Should Be Marketing to Women Online
May 11th, 2012 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
It’s long been the stereotype that women are more “social” than men—in the offline world, they’re typically the ones who plan social events, keep family connections going and love to chat. Apparently, when it comes to the online world, women are even more social, according to a new study by Nielsen reported in The Atlantic.
Here are some of the findings:
Compared to the average online adult, women are 8 percent more likely to have a personal blog. Men are 9 percent less likely to have one.
Compared to the average online adult, women are 18 percent more likely to like or follow brands on social media sites. Men are 21 percent less likely to do so.
Compared to the average online adult, women are 6 percent more likely to have at least one social media account. Men are 7 percent less likely.
Not only are women more likely to get social online, they’re more likely to buy online. Compared to the average online adult, women were 12 percent more likely to have purchased a product they saw on TV. Men were 14 percent less likely.
What do these statistics mean for your business? If you’re marketing to women—and I sure hope you are—you need to get active where they are.
- Reach out to women through social media accounts for your business and your brands. Create posts and content that resonates with women.
- Find out which influential women in your industry or market have blogs of their own. Comment on them and encourage the bloggers to check out your own site or blog.
- Don’t forget about women in business. Social media can be a powerful tool for selling BtoB to female decision-makers or women small business owners.
- Connect your website, your print or offline marketing and your social media accounts so it’s easy for customers who see your product or service somewhere else to find you and buy from you.
- Get active on rating and review sites, and encourage reviews from your customers. Respond to reviews in a positive manner and be part of the conversation.
By targeting women where they live today—online—you can raise your business’s profile and your sales.
Image by Flickr user Jerry Bunkers (Creative Commons)
How to Keep Your Ecommerce Customers From Abandoning Their Shopping Carts
May 9th, 2012 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
Do you despair over the high percentage of ecommerce shopping carts that go abandoned on your site? You might be worrying unnecessarily. Website conversion company SeeWhy reported that the shopping cart abandonment rate rose in 2011 (as it has for the past three years) and predicts this trend will continue in 2012. Why? SeeWhy says consumers are simply becoming more sophisticated about shopping online, meaning they’re more likely to fill carts, seek deals and leave their carts for prolonged periods either as “wish lists” or because they can’t find acceptable discounts for the items.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about abandoned carts. In fact, smart marketers look at them as an opportunity to convert to a sale. Here are some of the strategies you can try:
Remind them. You can send reminders via email to alert customers about an empty cart. Provide links consumers can use to follow up with you if the cart was abandoned due to a technical difficulty with your site, or because they had questions about a product. Season the pot with a discounted offer, if you like. Time is of the essence; aim to send the reminder within 4 hours of cart abandonment.
Advertise. If you use online advertising such as Google AdWords, you can “remarket” by using a conversion code so that remarketing ads (featuring the products customers were looking at) show up on the AdWords network. This keeps the products top-of-mind so consumers don’t forget their carts.
Don’t empty carts too soon. It’s a good idea to keep abandoned carts active for at least 60 days. With customers spending more time shopping online these days, you may need to be patient to grab the sale.
Consider the big picture. If you have a high percentage of abandoned carts that never get checked out, assess whether your checkout process is too complex, confusing or time-consuming. Make sure customers can easily get answers to questions about tax, shipping costs and delivery times without going through several steps of the checkout process. Make FAQs, customer service phone numbers and instant chat options easy to find.
Abandoned shopping carts don’t necessarily represent a lost sale. Treated correctly, they can represent opportunity for your business—as long as you know how to handle them.
Image by Flickr user Adele Prince (Creative Commons)
How and Why to Use Mobile Marketing to Reach Your BtoB Customers
May 7th, 2012 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
We’re hearing a lot about mobile marketing these days, with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets. But while most of the talk is about consumers and their changing shopping habits, it’s equally important for BtoB marketers to realize their customers’ behavior is changing, too.
For years, business decision-makers have relied on smartphones to get stuff done on the go. The advent of tablets, and their increasing adoption with the introduction of the latest iPad over the holiday season, has only accelerated the trend. Enterprises are adding tablets for their teams or, if they aren’t, a growing number of employees and executives are just showing up with their tablets and expecting to use them for work purposes (BYOD, or “bring your own device”).
Busy execs, in particular, are taking to tablets and using them for all types of purposes, from catching up on their industry reading to giving presentations to watching videos to taking notes during meetings. How can you take advantage of the fact that decision-makers are spending more time on their tablets?
Make sure your website is optimized for mobile viewing. You’d be surprised how few entrepreneurs do this. According to Web.com‘s recent Small Business Mobile Survey, only 26 percent of small business owners have a mobile-friendly website ( the same layout/content as standard site adjusted to suit a smartphone screen), and just 14 percent have a stand-alone mobile site. Of those who do have a stand-alone mobile site, however, a whopping 84 percent saw an increase in sales as a result. Consider both tablets and smartphones, and be sure to include all platforms. Although the iPad is by far the dominant tablet, when it comes to smartphones, the market is less clear-cut and, especially in big business, many execs still rely on BlackBerry smartphones.
Consider adding a mobile app. BtoB apps need to be useful and solve a problem your customers have by making a process more fun, easier or faster. Think about how typical activities your customers engage in could translate into apps, or how apps can make it simpler to communicate with your business.
Look into mobile advertising. With more execs reading and researching on the go, you may want to move part of your ad budget into mobile. True, you might not be able to afford an ad in the mobile version of The Wall Street Journal, but think about running ads in the mobile versions of your industry’s key trade publications or in their mobile apps.
Get visual. The popularity of video online is skyrocketing, and today’s tablets with their crystal-clear displays are ideal for video viewing. Think about creating short videos demonstrating your product or service, providing customer testimonials or talking about a key issue in your industry.
Whatever tactic you choose, keep in mind that when it comes to BtoB marketing, it’s all about relationships. How can mobile marketing improve your relationship with customers and prospects? How can you provide answers to their questions or solutions to their problems? Make yourself a mobile resource, and your relationship can continue wherever the customer is.
Image by Flickr user Siddartha Thota (Creative Commons)
Small Biz Resource Tip: TaskRabbit
April 27th, 2012 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichMaybe you need to take on a few lower-paying jobs to get you through a slow season. Maybe you are just starting out and need to get the word out about your services. Whatever the reason, TaskRabbit can help you find customers or people to do tasks for you. Users post their needs on the site, and businesses bid on the job. TaskRabbit doesn’t charge you anything to bid, but makes its money by tacking on a 15 percent service fee for the users who accept your bid. The lowest offer usually gets the bid, but if you want the work and are trying to build a reputation, it may be worth it.
How to Market Your Business With Online Videos
April 23rd, 2012 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
Online videos are becoming a more important part of the marketing mix for businesses, according to a November 2011 study by the e-tailing group and Invodo and reported by eMarketer. Specifically, product videos are attracting and holding consumers’ attention, the study found. U.S. consumers who find product videos on websites watch them 60 percent of the time. In fact, 36 percent of respondents reported having watched at least five product videos on brand or retail websites in the prior three months.
So how can you benefit from product videos?
Keep it short: Videos should generally be kept at 3 minutes or less, while providing education about your product. A full 85 percent of survey respondents said they would spend at least one minute watching a video that educated them about a product they were interested in buying.
Demonstrate your product: Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they would spend at least a minute watching a video that included a demonstration. If a video didn’t have a product demonstration, the percentage of respondents who would spend a minute watching dropped to 65 percent. In addition, 30 percent would spend more than 3 minutes watching a product demonstration video.
Provide useful information: Useful information is key to getting customers to watch more than once. Two-thirds of respondents said they would watch videos containing large amounts of information about a product several times before deciding whether to make a purchase.
Make it quality: In addition to information, good production values were key. Nearly half (47 percent) of respondents said they consider companies whose videos have high production values more reliable, and 53 percent reported being more engaged with those types of videos.
Spread it around: Your website isn’t the only place to put product videos. Nearly half of respondents said they also view product videos on YouTube and 39 percent had done so on Facebook.
eMarketer predicts the most growth in online video in the next few years will come from new audiences such as seniors, who are becoming more comfortable purchasing products online. Already, eMarketer reports, a projected 170 million Americans will watch online videos this year. That’s more than half the U.S. population. If you’re not already doing online video, what are you waiting for?
Image by Flickr user pthread1981 (Creative Commons)
