E-commerce
ADVANTAGES OF ECOMMERCE
- Faster buying/selling procedure, as well as easy to find products.
- Buying/selling 24/7.
- More reach to customers, there is no theoretical geographic limitations.
- Low operational costs and better quality of services.
- No need of physical company set-ups.
- Easy to start and manage a business.
- Customers can easily select products from different providers without moving around physically.
DISADVANTAGES OF ECOMMERCE
- Any one, good or bad, can easily start a business. And there are many bad sites which eat up customers’ money.
- There is no guarantee of product quality.
- Mechanical failures can cause unpredictable effects on the total processes.
- As there is minimum chance of direct customer to company interactions, customer loyalty is always on a check.
- There are many hackers who look for opportunities, and thus an ecommerce site, service, payment gateways, all are always prone to attack.
http://www.esalestrack.com/blog/2008/09/advantages-and-disadvantages-of.html
Google AdWords is Google’s advertising product, which displays your ads to people looking for your products or services on Google or its partner sites. AdWords can also be used for SEO [search engine optimization]. Some of the ways you can use AdWords for SEO are listed below.
AdWords for researching keywords
As keywords are most important for search engine optimization, you need to research thoroughly for keywords that users are likely to use. For increased search rankings, you need to set aside your opinions as an expert and identify the keywords crafted by the target audience.
Tracing keywords using the AdWords tool is rather simple; you need to simply enter your site’s URL [Uniform Resource Locator] or part of the keyword. The tool generates a suggested list of keywords automatically.
Though you might want increased rankings for all the suggested keywords, it is recommended that you focus on a select few. Now, you must set about picking the keyword that has a good search volume and can be optimized easily. The short listed keywords have the least competition in the search engine.
Surround the selected keyword with double quotes and search it on Google.com. Note the number of web results for each shortlisted keyword. The competition ratio is the ‘global search volume’ divided by the ‘number of web results’.
A high ratio implies that the keyword can be easily optimized. You need to practically test the keywords to ensure that they work well for you.
Increasing Click through Rate [CTR]
You can also get a higher CTR [Click through Rate] by using AdWords. Though your website has a high ranking and increased traffic, you may not be able to translate these into money if you have a low website CTR. Low CTR could be due to inadequate title and insufficient descriptions.
By running an AdWords campaign you can vary the description and title of your advertisement till you reach the maximum CTR for the keywords. Once you hit upon the perfect combination of description and title, save them as the description and title for your page to maximize the CTR for organic searches.
Using AdWords for SEO also involves geo-targeting. If traffic inflow to your website is from different geographic locations, you can make comparisons of traffic using Google Analytics. The keywords can be modified based on the response in different geographic zones.
eCommerce gains importance when clients visit business pages on social media networks. Businesses have realized that social media offers a perfect platform to popularize their services and products. Here are a few hints to incorporate social media in your routine ecommerce activities.
Strategies to incorporate social media into ecommerce activities
1. Creation of an innovative social media store
Irrespective of your business domain, it is suggested that you design an innovative and interactive store on a social media network such as Facebook. Ensure that the store is simple and user-friendly.
In this way your services and products are showcased prompting many visitor to ‘share’ or ’like’ them. Being the proprietor, it is necessary that you periodically go through the responses of your clients or audiences and improve your products/services.
2. Interactive wall posts
Apart from promoting your product, wall posts serve as opportunities for interactive eCommerce. You can introduce your latest products on a daily basis using small, interactive applications on your wall posts. By doing so, your main facebook page is retained even when visitors flip through the product pages.
3. Twitter hash-tag reviews
Hash tagging your Twitter reviews increases the credibility of your business. In this way, your business is popularized on many social networks thus giving more recognition to your services and products.
4. YouTube and other marketing strategies
Apart from being the repertoire of videos, YouTube can be used to promote social media and eCommerce campaigns. You may represent your services and products visually through customized, interactive videos. On posting these videos on your company’s social media account, your business receives a boost in social media presence, ecommerce engagement and product sales.
The influence of the social media strategies on your business
Your customer base is increased due to your online presence. It helps you to reach out to people whom you wouldn’t have been able to approach through local advertisements.
Special discount and promotional offers on your products and services are easily canvassed to the public. Newly added, high quality online content attracts new visitors to your business.
People also get to know the personal aspects of your business like the relations you share with long standing customers. Blog posts about personal experiences establish a connection with your customers which in turn increases brand loyalty and customer base.
The exposure gained through your followers enhances visibility. It also provides a firmer stand for your business.
Facebook has undergone a complete make-over in recent days. The Timeline has redesigned Facebook by giving it a heavy photo appeal. Though the reports about the Timeline’s influence on brand advertising are conflicting, they certainly stress a statement that can’t be ignored: social network marketing is here to stay. Following are some of the marketing trends that have been ushered in.
Larger photos
As consumers prefer visual appeal, a higher emphasis is laid on photos. The performance of brands is measured by an analytic firm called Simply Measured. The firm has noted a 65% jump in the consumers’ interest for videos and photos posted by brands after the advent of the Timeline. A decline of interest was also noticed towards status updates without photos.
SimplyMeasured had based their analysis on 15 brands, so it gave an idea on a small scale. A representative of Facebook however confirmed that posting videos and photos has radically improved response in terms of comment, likes and shares. Adam Schoenfeld, SimplyMeasured’s CEO, says that representing content creatively can be really powerful.
Keeping with the trend, Sprinkles Cupcakes, a renowned cup cake bakery, makes it a point to post pictures regularly on its FB page. The marketing head of Sprinkles Cupcakes, Nicole Schwartz asserts that user-action prompting features like submitting photos to a photo contest receive a whooping number of likes, comments and shares.
Asking questions
Conventionally, advertising models were built such that a campaign was first released and then the results were examined to analyze the success of the advertisement. Now, FB has a user-engagement metric system that immediately gives you the result of your campaign.
For example, TurboTax, a firm for tax preparation, saw questions posted about tax filing concerns. The posts received an overwhelming response from people, prompting TurboTax to advertise via FB to have a greater reach to the public.
The Timeline photo
Having a large picture placed as your Timeline cover photo is a sure way to get you noticed. It acts as a banner that conveys the vision of the brand. Some brands use the space to increase the number of posts. For example, Tide, a reputed detergent company, showcased a massive status update by urging its fans to answer a question that popped up on click of the image.
Expressing gratitude
In the previous trend of Social Media, fans were singled out and lavished with praise. A major part of the other fans were left disinterested with all that fuss. So, some marketers prefer a creative thank you that acknowledges the entire fan fraternity.
As eCommerce technology is not what was, you need to be on the look out for any new trends that your eCommerce business website might benefit from. Here are some of the latest trends that are sweeping the eCommerce world.
Unusual products
When eCommerce first made its appearance, the fact that the shopping was made online was a novelty in itself. Now, retailers online have become common place. When every product is being sold by several other online shops, the only way to stand apart is by selling unique products. Small businesses should choose the right markets and ensure the products are creative and of high quality. Customized products that are sourced locally have a greater appeal and sell better.
Small businesses that sell their products online should make sure that the design, styling or texture of the product is not easily found elsewhere. By competing on the basis of uniqueness rather than price, the products help in brand establishment which in turn drives demand.
Availing the services of third parties
The trend of integrating third party hosting services into their websites is catching on in most start-up businesses. Designing and running a customized website from a single source has prompted many small businesses to enter into eCommerce.
Exclusive eCommerce software provide services like marketing support, centralized dashboard for inventory management and secure hosting. Templates are also provided so that you can customize the website yourself instead of availing the services of a professional.
Usage of mobiles
As customers prefer to use their tablets and smart phones for online shopping, the eCommerce businesses are moving towards designing websites that have an appealing format on mobile screens. Plug-ins are available to smoothen out this transition. Apart from optimizing the website for mobile viewing, it could also help to examine the mobile marketing trends. Most eCommerce businesses resort to text messages to flash alerts and special discounts.
Use of Social media
Social media marketing is a marketing rage that is certain to stay. Businesses have begun to launch profiles on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. By doing so, they are able to reach out to a large segment of the public and communicate better. Pinterest is a rising social network that provides a flexible platform for eCommerce businesses to display their products in an attractive manner.
Almost $4 billion dollars are being spent on mobile advertising, all across the world. Some of the significant factors that shape its destiny are listed below:
Focus on Behavioral aspects
Conventionally, ads have been targeted towards demographic context or a device. But this trend is changing, and ads are now being focused more on an individual’s location and behavior. Targeting based on behavior, promises higher returns because by tracing the right users for advertising, the money spent on it is more effectively spent.
The approach is good for the users too, as they are generally bombarded with irrelevant advertisements prompting them to “zone” out advertisements.
Analytic tools enhanced
At present, evaluation systems for mobile advertising campaigns are not all that accurate. Stringent guidelines are laid down by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Mobile Marketing Association, but the rules are not interpreted in the same way by everyone. In about 5 years time the rules would have evolved into unanimously accepted standards. In turn, this would radically improve the effectiveness of the mobile advertising campaigns.
Mobiles as search devices
Most of the money made by Google in the mobile industry is sourced from advertisements for mobile searches. The growing trend of using mobiles for finding services and products is not expected to wane. What might change though is the capacity of the search engines to provide more accurate search results based on location and keywords
Higher interaction
An interactive advertisement is more appealing to your eye as compared to an advertisement in a plain text format. Rich media advertisements are not deployed much because they are platform-specific and far more expensive. Eventually, interactive advertisements would gain prominence and users can be collapsing, expanding and playing around with them in interesting ways. It offers a good scope for creative minds to unleash their potential.
Social networking
Services like Gowalla and Foursquare have already brought together the social and mobile realms. It is predicted that it will soon evolve into a cloud of personal data that would be associated with you whenever you wish to transact. You can also share your data with others. It makes it easier for advertisers to make offers relevant to you, yet bearing in mind your right to privacy.
As of now, the mobile advertising is dominated by giants like Apple, Google and Millennial Media. Some of them will probably continue to rule, while the rest are likely to be taken over by competitors.
http://www.ecommerce-marketing.com/