Making Small Business Instagrammable

As the world knows it, Instagram is a powerful tool; it is where many celebrities and famous personalities chose to dwell. Even the retail industry perceives it in that way thinking that prominent brands can only survive and thrive in that place where as small businesses have no chance. The size of the company isn’t exactly the basis of whether it can get value from it because even small business can benefit from the opportunities that it offers.

Here we’ll discuss some of the strategies on how small businesses can get the most out of making their own Instagram account:

One good benefit having an Instagram account for small businesses is that they can reach and engage with their followers on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other sites here altogether as Instagram allows you to link your other profiles to it so your new posts can also get published to those accounts automatically.

Instagram also have a Stories feature where you can compile multiple pictures and videos into a “story” that disappears after 24 hours, similar to Snapchat stories and Facebook’s MyDay. This component has a lot of potential but small businesses needs to be creative and do experimenting to see how can they can use it better.

Instagram is also generous with reporting tools which you can use to see all of this information from a single dashboard and track it over time. Data presented by these tools can give a company an idea of what type of content is attractive to their audience. It also specifies the style of photo or filter as well as the hashtag. This will guide small businesses to improve their social media posts and lean towards using strategies that are enticing to their target market.

Instagram engagement through comments can also bring in valuable information about customer feedback on a particular post, product or the brand in general. It requires time and attention but its byproduct can be used to strengthen the business’ relationship with the consumers and improve their operations and management.

Have you heard of Influencer Marketing? It’s something that has gone increasingly popular in Instagram. It is being widely used to connect with people through an established personality (not necessarily a celebrity) because there are now non-celebs who were able to garner a fan-base consisting of thousands to millions of engaged followers. Employing them to endorse products which is cheaper is now being considered and done by many small businesses. Investing on them is equivalent to investing on advertising your product to the number of people who follows them.

Aside from that, small businesses should also be aware of the use of hashtags which are being used in replacement for keywords as it is also being used to increase the visibility of brands to people who are still unaware of them.

If you want a more straightforward strategy, you just can look for Instagram ads and see how they will work for you. It’s something that you can invest into and works online just like how traditional advertising works in the real world.

Instagram may be a big world. But we have to remember that everyone and everything is somehow a small part of something big but our size doesn’t always matter because sometimes what matters is the size of what we do and its effect to the people around us.

 

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Beating the Holiday Season Rush with a Successful Shipping Strategy

Holiday season is one of the busiest days of a retailer; aside from securing purchases, he/she must also secure that all the sold products are shipped on the scheduled date assuming that they are gifts for the celebration.

Shipping period is crucial and must be taken seriously as it is key to keeping the trust and loyalty of the consumers. However, there will be challenges during the big day especially on holidays. So, here we will discuss how you can be better prepared and how you can overcome shipping issues to deliver your customer’s packages on time.

First, let’s tackle the three default shipping methods available.  The free, the flat rate and the local pickup. It is important to offer your customers options so they have alternatives in case one of these doesn’t work for their situation.

But, if you’re wondering what is best preferred, it’s safe to say that obviously, people love free shipping and it is an effective strategy to encourage purchases. In fact, studies show that majority of online shoppers are motivated to buy more products if free shipping is available. But, if you decide to offer a free standard shipping option, you might as well want to provide rush or special shipping for an additional fee. Apart from this, there are various of other shipping options that you can consider offering to your customers based on their needs.

Now we proceed to talking with a Shipping Carrier. They also play a big role as they directly influence rates, arrival times, and delivery quality. There may be different carriers to attend to different needs but there are some general considerations including the location, the products, the available shipping rates, tracking, insurance and even the holidays.

There may be times that you will need to use multiple carriers such as when some of your items might have special handling requirements, or you might need to use different carriers for some countries that you ship to. On instances like these, you can allow your customers to choose between shipping methods or use extensions.

Once you have set up your shipping rates and methods, you should now let customers know the last day they can purchase a product in order to receive it before the actual holiday such as Christmas, Black Friday, etc. This should be in line with the cutoff dates for your chosen shipping carrier.

Meanwhile, in terms of international shipping, you should have a flexible schedule as it often takes longer and there is a tendency that international holidays will affect your shipping times.

In short, your cutoff dates should be based not only on your own processing time but also on your shipping carrier deadlines, and on holidays and on weekends.

You just have to make sure that you clarify your deadlines on your site to avoid any issues with your customers. It’s also a plus if you provide them with tracking information for them to know when they can expect their package to be delivered.

More importantly, you have to do everything you can to make sure that your packages arrive on time as promised because the name and integrity of your brand is what’s at stake. It would be helpful to do extra preparations to make the process faster for you such as printing your own shipping labels, creating an order management process and securing all shipping and packaging materials.

Do all this and you’ll have less to worry about these coming holidays. Know that you are not only doing this for the sake of profit but also to give your customers a merrier holiday season.

 

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How to have Effective Holiday Marketing Campaign Strategies

The holiday season is just around the corner and everyone is becoming more and more busier as it approaches. As for you, you might be thinking what to do with your marketing campaign. Well, I suggest that you also start preparing because doing it early can increase your chances of avoiding procrastination caused by unexpected problems coming up on the last-minute. These holiday marketing tips and promotion ideas aim to help you refine your efforts to ramp up sales during the most profitable time of the year.

Plan ahead, and plan more.

Almost 50 events are now being celebrated around the world during the holiday season. This opens the door for a lot of good opportunities to help improve and establish businesses. This is due to the influx of traffic to online stores which is being motivated by sales and promos. This is such a busy time and it requires brands to be fully prepared or else they will be overwhelmed by the surge of customers or be beaten by competitors. Some of the things that must be secured are easy-to-access FAQs, customer support chatbots, and tested emails and website.

Holiday planning must cover not only a business’ landing pages, email marketing, and ad campaigns ready but also its channel strategy. One must also ensure that everything works smoothly through promo codes/checkout, etc. The initial planning of a successful holiday marketing campaign usually starts in Q2. This may seem too early but know that time can pass by so quickly, so, it is important to allot extra to time to be able to plan ahead of time.

Simplicity is the key.

Holiday planning should not be so complicated. In fact, you can start small with your holiday campaigns, especially if this is your first holiday season as a brand. Base your strategy on the capability of your team and the amount of support you have with your operations. All you need is to be able to come up with an idea which your product or service can give, a benefit and an emotion which draws the customers and helps them remember your brand. The efficiency of how you implement this strategy will determine whether consumers will choose to shop with you for the holidays.

As an additional strategy you can also use social media to connect with customers. With this one, you will have to come up with something engaging that shopper will be enticed to share through their social media accounts to feel like they are a part of something. This tactic helps you build not only a connection but also trust and an audience.

Prepare and Adapt Quickly.

Problems may be inevitable during these hectic times. So, you also have to be prepared to troubleshoot especially for worst-case scenarios. You should secure a team that will remedy any issues on your website, ads and anywhere else. You should also consider reviewing your customer service, shipping, and operations teams to assure that minimal to zero problems will arise in the future. This is also another reason why you have to plan ahead of time; so that you can make changes due to unforeseen issues as early as you can.

Have a Content-Driven Approach.

One of the latest trends in the retail industry today is the use of content marketing as a way to reach customers. Through this, brands are being enabled to offer more personalized shopping experiences to customers such as holiday gift guides and shopping assistants. Adding a content strategy element to your holiday marketing ideas can help you a lot as well, especially if you keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. This will encourage drive organic traffic to your website as customers will be able to search for products that you sell even if they’ve never shopped with you before.

Brace for tougher competition.

The greatest challenge that you may face during the holiday season are the competitors which may be doing the same or even better strategies compared to you. But, don’t be discouraged because all you have to do is re-enforce your email marketing to draw more customers to your online store. Make sure that it will give you an edge in communicating the benefits of purchasing with your products and services over your competitors.

Be creative and target an interesting/unique area that you know about your demographic and focus on that rather than do the traditional (easy) holiday-related subject lines. Make sure you have secured your effective retargeting campaigns ahead of the holiday season.

The holiday season may be stressful for some businesses but it can also be filled with enjoyment especially if you have enough preparation and strategy to stand out against your rivals. Remember that it is not about how grand your holiday marketing campaign strategy is but how it can give a remarkable experience to your buyers.

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Preparing For A Bountiful Holiday Marketing

Holidays are always hectic; or at least for those in the marketing field because holiday marketing is an extremely crucial time for every business due to the boom in the spending of their customers which goes far beyond from what they normally spend throughout the year. That’s why businesses are thinking of their own gimmicks to hook the customers from discounts to promos with free shipping included! For years, it was able to excite people and entice them to buy even those who don’t have any initial plans. But the question is for how long will this be effective? And what other preparations should a marketer do to cope up with the holidays? Let’s talk about it.

Planning ahead of time

Planning is the most important thing for marketing in general. Doing it ahead of time is the key to achieve your goals for the season, and help you track your progress a lot easier.

Securing a content plan as well as all the materials ahead of time can help you start early campaigns which can lead to a smoother holiday season. Know that most Christmas ads are successful because they are prepared in advance. Some even do them as early as summertime while others are not thinking about the yuletide season yet.

But what’s more important than having a plan is to be organized because even a well-constructed plan can be left in shambles during the holiday season especially when you and your team are not focused on the crucial elements of your campaign.

Christmas holiday materials such as brochure, flyer catalog must also be designed early as it will be easier to just insert changes or developments than to start entirely in scratch. What’s important is for you to have your big sales and promotions started as early as possible so that your customers will be aware of them and that’s when their excitement will begin.

Launching it too early can be annoying do and there’s a tendency that they will forget it over time. So, timing is also important. In this cause, you must make a clear schedule leading up to your actual big event. There should proper build up and momentum but not slow so it wouldn’t be boring. This schedule will remind you with important dates and targets and help you determine whether they are being reached. You can also have an overview of your entire plan through it so it will be easier to know if it’s feasible.

Preparing your product catalog

Product catalogs provide customers a quick and easy access to information about your products such as their prices along with a short description. This is convenient for them because shoppers don’t have to go to the actual store.

This is also preferable for retailers who sell a variety of products as there’s no way the customers would want to walk all around the store just to look at every single product. This is not only time-consuming but also extremely tiring.

But, with a product catalog, looking for a specific product won’t be that stressful anymore. It can be their guide on what they should expect on various items and which among them are covered with discount. Flyers on the other hand, are simpler. Yet, are also effective in getting your products out there.

Optimizing users’ mobile experience

Your mobile store plays an important role in holiday marketing. So, you need to start preparing it early so your users will have a stress-free experience with it. Check for issues or list down possible issues that may arise and start looking for solutions or troubleshooting backups. Cramming on this aspect on the last minute will be the end of all your holiday marketing opportunities.

Social Media Utilization

Promote your brand on all social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest as this is considered one of the fastest and most successful ways to advertise today.

As a marketer, you can use social media trends to encourage brand awareness, make a sale or interact with existing customers. This is where most people dwell nowadays especially those with money. So, do not forget to let your presence be known.

Wrap Up

Discussing holiday marketing strategies can be really complicated. So, I tried my best to make it as simple and as short thus giving you the explanation above. But this doesn’t mean you couldn’t learn for more. There are still a lot of resources that could help you so don’t stop looking.

Aside from everything mentioned above, another piece of advice is for you to do efforts to really know your audience. Because only through this can you know how to appeal to them.

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What Sells Best Online this 2019

Online selling was such in a boom that it reached the point that most businesses sell almost the same products and all that mattered is the brand and price. So for this year, especially with the incoming yuletide season, let’s have a breath of fresh air and look at some of the freshest and hottest products that you may sell to make your online business standout.

Pixel Art / Paintings

Pixel art are so popular nowadays because of the fresh yet amazing visuals they have brought. In fact, many mainstream online sites show a massive increase of people looking for pixel art products proving that there’s really high buyer intent.

Clocks

This is among the products that will never be out of the limelight. As having clocks does not only help people to manage their time but can also be used as a perfect addition to their home decor. This is why people have developed various creative ideas how they can innovate the simple design of clocks.

Wood Print

Who wouldn’t be amazed with the art of printing out images on wood? In fact, people were so fond of them that they found out how to transfer their wedding photographs into wood or get a landscape paint on wood into their living room. Wood print has created a huge impact on business at it also boosted the industry where print-on-demand is most profitable.

DIY Jewellery

Selling homemade jewellery is one of the most common ways to cash in. People are piling up to purchase homemade jewellery online because of the convenience. Jewellery making – like every other creative business –  takes a lot of time, creativity, skill, and effort. Ideas may not come every time and if you are looking to sell different designs, this might pose as an issue to you. People typically don’t search specific keywords when jewelry shopping. They tend to use general keywords and look for something they like within that category. Some of the latest jewellery trends include Locket Necklace, Cufflinks, and Ear Cuffs

Hair Care Products and Accessories

Hair care or accessories will never go out of style. It just evolves and develop to fit its sister industries such as the fashion and jewellery industry. Another reason why this business is one of the best is because no matter how many years pass, people will always want to take care of their hair and a good number of them will still look to accessorize their hair for different functions, be it for weddings or casual outings.

Stationery Products

Art will always run in someone’s blood. This people who have love for crafts will remain as the target market of this business. Even though technology has made people prefer eCards, online notes, word documents, and emails over physical stationery. ‘Paper and pencil’ crafts still sell, especially in holiday seasons as a result of the personalized feel they bring. This category also has some of the cheapest crafts to make.

Beauty Products

Last but not the least, selling homemade beauty products is another perfect way to turn your hobby into a full-time income stream. There is a variety of hair products, skin care products, or makeup to choose from and they will always make great gifts for people. This market may have some of the most expensive products to create, but it also has some of the fastest selling products.

In the retail industry, some products will remain sellable but some will not. The world is changing fast and businesses are required to cope with it in order to maintain their patrons. Business owners must know the trends to identify what sells best to the customers. Always remember that learning how to adapt and to predict behaviour of your target market is the key.

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Instagram Marketing: How To Make Money Out of Videos Posts and Stories

Many people think that Instagram is only for the rich and the famous to share their glamorous photos and videos. But just like other social media sites, there’s business that you can derive out of it. Even as a small business owner, Instagram posts can be a flexible format for your products and your brand, whether you choose to invest in higher polish or embrace a more organic approach.

So, if you’re not making and sharing content such as videos on Instagram, you could be missing out on connecting with tons of new potential customer especially because most people are already exposed on the social media. Don’t worry, using Instagram as your main platform won’t limit you there. In fact, producing and posting contents from here can serve only as a jumpstart as it can be shared through Facebook and Twitter.

Instagram videos can be posted either on your feed or on your stories which only lives within 24 hours. You can start by posting simple promotions through that to test if your approach and content is effective to entice people and to get feedback if possible. Don’t worry, these Instagram videos don’t have to be expensive, complicated productions either.

In fact, videos shot on a budget can often appear more authentic (and be more effective) than high production videos. You can shoot compelling videos for your brand’s Instagram page on just a smartphone, with the option to edit it using Instagram itself, a computer, or a variety of useful mobile apps.

To start understanding about it, know that there are two main styles of videos that you can share on Instagram. One refers to quick and authentic content while the other is more on the high production and promotional.

It is highly suggest that at first, use quick and easy to make videos first; one that is only shot at your office, on location at your latest pop-up shop, or at an event that your brand is attending. Process it with light editing on your mobile device just to let your audience know your brand is authentic and approachable. It may not be as polished as the usual marketing videos we see online. But it can also gain a lot of engagement because it feels authentic and at home on the platform.

Later on, you can make contents that can be used and reused over time. That is as soon as you have the resources to shoot footage with high production values or have access to high-res footage from an event or advertisement shoot.

While when it comes to content, make sure that it reflects the core values of your brand. You can start by making an origin story about the start of your company, or a branded content that shows your core product line. This kind of footage can be edited and polished into evergreen content that can live on all your social channels and as marketing materials elsewhere for a long time.

Starting from this, your engagements would rise and your followers would increase. You can then start adding additional ads from other products and business that will also give you additional revenue. You can also place ads on other videos especially of well-known people such as influencers to reach more people and make your brand get known even more.

 

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Physical Store Partnerships: It’s Benefits and Everything You Need To Know

Aside from life in general, business is another thing which can be done so much better when there’s company. But unlike friends, business are harder to find and more difficult to return as they hold more on the matters concerning their self interest rather than on personal ties. Though, it can also be good if you try to befriend them to make your relations better.

But first, know that it’s not mandatory. However, its perks are too good to miss especially when you are a new business which aspires to expand and grow. Just know that this is equivalent to responsibilities too. There’s also a need to be careful as this venture can also become risky. Here we’ll discuss the things that you have to prepare before, during, and after you partner up with another brand to ensure that it would be a success.

But first of all, let’s know first what the different types of partnerships are for you to know what kind of engagement suits your preference best. You should also think about the nature of your agreement to know how the partnership will work and what your ideal result is.

Sales and distribution agreements

This plain and direct type of partnership is where merchants agree to have sales and distribution sales with other retailers meaning they will have to sell the goods of the other.

Contests

Meanwhile, this is one of the most common type of partnerships where company’s rely on each other as fan base and encourage sales or engagement. These types of partnerships can be observed on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, which make it easy for users to tag, comment, and engage with brands.

Events

Other retailers may also co-host events and programs with organizations and fellow businesses. Here, retailers can team up to share costs, improve exposure, and connect with more consumers.

Social buzz and marketing

These agreements can include promoting or mentioning each other on social media sites, contributing articles or content to each other’s sites, and running joint online competitions, among other things.

These partnerships are just some of the many types of deals that you could enter in with other businesses. But you are free to modify and explore what other retailers have done in your industry to figure out the partnership that’s right for you.

Knowing who you want to team up with

Now, knowing the opportunities available for you, you can now proceed on thinking of a prospect company or business to team up with. It is also better if you will be able to prepare a proposal giving a hint of what might be your ideal nature of the partnership. It is also a way for to you to figure out the best way to reach out them.

Your approach should depend on who you’re contacting as well as the type of agreement you’re looking to get, so it’s important to sort this thing out and prepare to present them clearly to reach mutual understanding with the other party.

You can also make depend on complementary offerings that you may come up with. This can be composed of products and services that work well in tandem (or in groups–like a one-stop wedding shop with florist, caterer, photographer, band, etc.) You can also promote these products and services together. Meanwhile, similar fan base can also be a good touch base. So, instead of competing with one another, why not unite and benefit from each other’s fan base?

There are different ways to find a common ground in business and when used wisely, this common ground can be an asset which would make all involved businesses succeed.

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Why The World Needs Eco-Friendly Packaging and Shipping Alternatives

Packaging and Shipping are both essential in running an online business. But as years pass, significant and alarming change was seen on the environment and these things are some of the contributors on the damage in the planet. This has pushed consumers to be more conscious of their shopping habits so, they’re now looking not only for sustainable products but businesses dedicated to being environmentally friendly in all aspects of their operations.

For businesses, this wouldn’t be a big problem. They just need to allocate some time doing research and planning to find the best ways how they can repackage and ship their products using eco-friendly materials and ways.

Campaigns are on-going all over the world against climate change. Young people, their parents, the working force, corporations and even governments are supporting it. So if you are not one of those who stand with these people and with the environment, then you have to think because you might be putting yourself in a very difficult and risky situation.

As mentioned above, movements are already being hyped up right now. It is being promoted and featured on TV, radio and even on social media and it urges people to do action. Have you heard of teenager Greta Thunberg who started boycotting airlines to lessen carbon emissions? Many people are following her. Soon enough this could also happen on the same industry where your business belongs. So you need to take some actions while you still can. Shipping through planes may be convenient and cheap but there might come a time that consumers wouldn’t want it anymore.

Plastic which is commonly used on packages is also a major problem. Countries are already doing something about it and legislations are on the way to limit or prohibit the use of them. Will you wait till they are fully implemented before you review and do something to change how you pack your products? Are you willing to take the risks of facing fines for violating laws or being boycotted by consumer groups?

The point here is not only to fear the possible consequences of it to your business but to think about the benefits it may bring in the future. By contributing in lessening the damage being done to the planet, you are helping to save it. It will benefit not only the future generation but also the people of your time hoping that it will alleviate the conditions of people’s lives.

Reach out on other consumers groups and participate on partnerships as you integrate eco-friendly measures on your company. This way you are also building bonds with consumers, groups and agencies which support the same cause. Being one with them will surely boost your sales as you will soon be more preferred more than your non-eco-friendly competitors.

It’s not too late to be part of the change. These small steps as working on your packaging and shipping could lead to bigger actions which could benefit not only the environment but your company.

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Live Chat: The Real Game Changer in Customer Service

We had a lot of unpleasing experiences with customer service and we cannot deny that it is one of the reasons why lose my morale and trust to a company. It annoys us how they make us feel that our concerns are not important. They may not be conscious of it all the time but as simple as not responding or responding after a long time is already a serious concern for me. We got to say it makes us lose our enthusiasm towards the company.

Millions of other consumers may also be feeling the same. So if you are not aware of this before then maybe you are now and I must say that as early as now, you must think and do something about it as early as you can.

Most companies use the social media or software to develop a system for their customer service while some resort to the support from call centers which is considered as one of the most effective as well as expensive.

One of the most effective and efficient strategies right now is live chat. Again, it’s annoying to be ignored and to wait for hours for a respond. But, imagine when you put up a system where you can talk with your customers real-time. It may require some manpower for the monitoring but with the right system, it won’t be heavy and it would be manageable.

What most owners think is that this kind of system is too demanding to the point that it must be maintained 24/7. But will customers bug you around the clock? I don’t think so. Of course, you must also make sure your services and products are of good quality so you won’t end up having tons of complaints. Assuming that you are doing well, all you need to do is to do proper scheduling and condition the minds of your customers about the time you will be active. You can also leave notes or messages which may contain directions so that they will know what to do and to stare vacantly at an empty inbox waiting for a message which they aren’t sure of.

All I can say is, you have to identify what time of the day your target market are most active because it is more likely that they will engage on conversations during these times. Through this you will know when you can best interact with them. These times are the most crucial so concentrate and make sure to monitor and work on your live chats a little harder during these times.

The ideal result is to make them feel that they are valued and will be catered immediately. This will create an impression that you are really concerned about your customers and that you are willing to arrange and correct their ordeals as soon as possible.

This is what strengthens your business’ relationship with your market. A step that will change the way they perceive your brand giving it a unique register into their minds setting it apart from others.

 

 

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Point of Purchase Marketing As The Key to Higher Sales

When you are the kind of owner who’s contented with the fact that customers enter your store buy a thing they want, pay and leave, then you are bringing yourself nowhere because your capability to supply your shop with products that customers can choose from is not the end of your job. In fact, it is just the beginning.

As a business owner, you are required to be strategic. Think of yourself as a commander on the brink of war where you need to plan wisely and mobilize effectively. Point of purchase is one of the things that you should know first as it can change the way you see your in-store business. Through it you can understand that positioning is important and can affect your sales positively if done right.

You might not notice but installing a point-of-purchase is being done by many businesses. To make it simple, let’s use one of the most basic examples; putting certain products near the cash register. How does it work? Simply by making the customers lining up for the cashier to buy additional products. This strategy attempts to market other products to shoppers who are already in the store and ready to make a purchase. Placing small, inexpensive, and relevant items on the counter can boost sales. So can using displays of these items to create an area where customers can queue while waiting to check out.

The point of purchase marketing strategy works by making customers more likely to buy an additional product if it does not significantly add to the total price of their purchase. It turns a long check-out line and wait time into an extended shopping experience for your customers through your display which can keep them engaged and interested as they wait. It also maintains their decision to buy a product and reduces the chances that they just leave without buying just because they saw a long line at the register.

Your point of purchase marketing can be supported by your salespeople who will guide the customers or try to talk them into buying in case they still have some hesitations. They can also act as a resource to customers engaging with displays or samples and assist them in making a purchasing decision.

You can also use modern technology to aid to customers as they roam around your store. You can make them interact with a mobile app on their smart phone which can increase sale by helping them see special offers, specific discounts, or information on a specific product line as well as give directions as to where to find it within the store). While your point of purchase at the cash register will be your last resort and final opportunity to boost sales even more within the last minutes of the customers inside the store.

By effectively implementing a POP plan and taking advantage of all the opportunities around you, you can integrate point of purchase marketing in your retail space and increase sales through added value, information, and deals.

 

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Quality over Quantity in Retail Promotions

In the retail industry, having the quality over quantity mantra is common. But still, some businesses can’t stop bombardment strategies especially in promotions. At some point it becomes beneficial and effective because through these promotions, customers become more enticed. However, the positive effects don’t stay for long. In fact, businesses doing these are unconsciously caring for a long-term negative mindset among their customers.

One particular example is the use of promo codes and coupons. Many businesses have a strategy of providing these as frequent as once daily. It’s true that it can be interesting for the consumers but the thing is, as time pass by, they get used to this. The tendency is they become dependent on it. Until the day they won’t spend anymore without it. It may be okay because at least you’re still earning. But how long can you bear earning only a little amount? Would that be healthy for your business?

The answer is no because it delays growth and can end up with you being stuck on providing coupons and discounts for your waiting market. This strategy in achieving a loyal customer base is harmful than beneficial. In reality, not all of your customers need it. Instead, you should focus on your high-value and new customers. You can begin by trying different promotions for your high-value customers and your new email subscribers. For instance, you could send a broad discount to your new subscribers to encourage immediate action, but send each high-value shopper an email that promotes new items in their favorite category. You may find that many of those loyal customers will be willing to purchase new items without a discount.

To be honest, there’s no reason to send the same promotion or offer to everyone every day. When you can deliver better promotions to your audiences, you’ll be more likely to engage your customers, rather than spam them with irrelevant promotions. Focus instead on building loyalty through relevance and value. By setting the right mindset and not tolerating a wrong habit, you and your customers can benefit mutually and you will have a relationship that is not dependent on one taking advantage of the other party.

Through this, it would be easier for you to follow your quality over quantity mantra. You can now start doing the right thing which is to personalize your promotion system depending on your customers. But doing this manually would take a hefty amount of time. So, it would be better if you start looking for an automating system that can help you group your customers and categorize the promotions that will fit on their purchasing behavior and preferences.

Using a proper targeting strategy is the key to effective and successful retail promotions. With this, you don’t have to send unnecessary and random promotions anymore as first-time visitors will be shown one promotion, while a different one is being seen by loyal shoppers. All you have to ensure now is that the right promotion displayed on your website is the same to that same person to prevent any confusion.

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Psychology of Business Preferences for Non-Psychologists

Who would have thought that even managing and operating a business requires complexities such as being knowledgeable about Psychology?

Ooops, don’t be pressured just yet. You might be thinking it the wrong way. This doesn’t mean you have to gain your PHD or go back to college for your Psychology degree because even without it, believe me. You can get a hold of the people’s mindset which will give you a peak of their behavior.

Though you may want to spend some time with a little research to support your stocked knowledge, but planning and strategy is more crucial. But first, here are the things that you have to do and understand.

Appreciate commonalities but recognize differences

Due to tradition, most business owners see and treat the market as a whole. Even studies and research doesn’t usually focus on individual demographics but on categories based most commonly on age and gender. While with the other factors, commonalities are strictly being observed and behavior is explained in general.

There’s nothing wrong with that though. Appreciating commonalities helps a lot in explaining different phenomena. But what happens is that, numbers define the perception on things. Use of Bandwagon approach suddenly became a general rule in determining what’s better and what’s best. One example of it is the use of social proof. It became effective because people’s mindset for conditioned to believe that the more people who uses it, the higher the quality it has.

But what businessmen don’t know is that it is also crucial for them to recognize and mind about their customer’s differences in preferences.  Using this, you might now and understand your competitors’ edge over you if there’s any. You can also use this information to prevent being countered in the future. Your opponents will never get past you when you know their moves even before they think of them.

Commit while you do your thing

When you are doing business, you are also getting into a relationship with your clients. This means you have to commit and do something to keep that relationship going strong. When your customers see that you have invested in making sure to bring better quality of products and services, it’s more likely that you can also expect something in return from them such as retention and loyalty.

Research, Plan and Apply

Again, there’s no need for a bachelor’s degree (though it’s a bonus if you have one.) But still, knowledge is power. It is what will guide you in making decisions will affect your business.  Work on what you can still improve then try integrating new strategies, tools and software. But remember, still, your attitude and actions towards them is what will define their behavior. So, to make sure that you will achieve the ideal reaction from them, then you have to do the right things that will lead to that. As the saying goes, ‘What comes around goes around.’ It means wise investments in business will give you investments of loyalty and retentions from others as well.

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Increasing Online Sales by Motivating Loyalty

Have you ever wondered how a single business can stand out amidst the influx of online shopping businesses and products?  With all the gimmicks going around the online world from competitors who are as eager to win the loyalty of the customers, how do you set yourself apart and entice them to patronize your brand?

The key to customer loyalty and retention lies with your ability to provide a unique customer experience. Achieving that involves different important factors that you have to assure. Here are some of the things that you can ask yourself to know if you are on the right path of competing for customer loyalty:

Do you advertise creatively enough? And do you cling on to your promises?

Advertisements are commonly used by almost all businesses to promote their brand and products. However, because of the ineffective method and strategies of using it, customers have developed a negative impression about it to the point that they almost hate and avoid it. But this can still be worked on with creative advertisements that can attract and catch interest. Most importantly, you have to make sure you can fulfill all your promises or else, just don’t promise at all.

False advertisements and click baits should be avoided as it will only reduce your popularity and can prompt customers to distrust you.

Is your platform user friendly? Do you have fast delivery?

In an online business, your app or website will be the life of your business. It is where the customers will make most of their transaction. So it is very crucial to have a working domain that is comprehensive and must have a user-friendly interface. Information including the price, description and photo of the product should be accurate. Fast delivery is also what the customer wants. So, make sure you can secure these as part of your online business. If not, you can also establish different arrangements such as meet-ups and pick-ups.

How do you deal with customer complaints and suggestions?

It will be inevitable not to have concerns from your customers in your business every once in awhile. But what matters is how you handle and treat them. You have to make them feel that you care about them and their concerns. Take customer service seriously because this is part of working on with their retention. Keep in mind that unsettled concerns and problems lead to customers losing trust in you.

You can also create a review and rate system to help you with potential customers. Having good reviews will give about-to-be customers a good impression about you.

Knowing and working on these three aspects will help you earn your customer’s trust and confidence. Along with these, expect that you will be required to invest time and resources. It may be hard on the earlier parts but in time, you will see the product of your hard work. As long as you give your best and you do and plan wisely, you’ll soon be in control and you’ll be on your way to success.

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Looking into the Colors of Marketing

Colors speak as much words as pictures can. This is why it’s being used not only to create art but also to generate profit.

Not everyone knows it but the colors being used on websites and promotions are factors that can affect the behavior and the mood of the customers.

This has a lot to do with psychology which is essential as in business, you are dealing with people. So, at some point you are going to need to know more about what’s going on with their minds.

But, believe me, it’s not rocket science. In fact, some businesses already use the knowledge about how colors affect people in their bid to sell their merchandise and in that attempt they discovered that the sense of sight is a consideration for people who buy products. Of course except on products that really requires the other senses more. This proves that with the use of an intelligent color layout and effective art direction, ecommerce success can be achieved.

For further understanding, let’s discuss some of the basic colors and what they mean when integrated into one’s business.

Black

Let’s start with one of the darkest one. Often seen as a symbol of death, sadness and hopelessness, Black may also signify power and supremacy which can be used effectively in ecommerce. It can send a confident message to potential customers as long as it is used in moderation and combined with other tranquil colors.

White

Obviously, this color Is used to convey a message about having no impurities. It is essential to most web pages as it shows wholesomeness, clarity as well as formality. As you know, this often used by hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, education institutions, corporate businesses and even charity foundations. Using empty white space around your content may not necessarily make it look empty but also professional.

Orange

Orange is a color that can be linked to many exciting things in life such as a glass of ice cold orange juice in bright warm summer. In business, it is said to bring the same feeling of having fresh beginnings and combined with other cool shaded colors, this can give off a positive and exciting vibe to your brand.

Pink

This one is commonly associated to femininity so it is an obvious choice for brands that targets women as its market. But, surprisingly, it can also be an attractive color to males as it conveys romance, and love in general. It can also be used to express subtleness and kindness of heart. So, it can balance the effect of darker colors such as black and red.

Yellow

Caution is needed in using this color as it is unpleasant when used excessively. But when used in the right manner, it has the potential to show playfulness and immense energy just like what is being symbolized by electricity and thunder.

Green

Green is for nature. It is close to everyone’s heart as it can be seen almost everywhere within the environment. It’s one of the most natural color and it gives cool and ease to the eye. To shoppers, it may give a feeling of relaxation, comfort and security. It may also give them a feeling that they are at home or at least close to it.

Red

Red has always been about intense emotions. Usually it signifies love, life and even family. Just be mindful because too much red on a webpage can be visually overwhelming. According to researchers, this can also be used effectively in the food industry as it gives people the feeling of hunger and craving for something to munch on.

Blue

Last but not the least, blue is about being refreshed, being cool and being hopeful. Contrary to red, this one should be avoided if your webpage is involved with the hospitality industry as blue is said to decrease appetite. But it can be effective on energy drinks, swim wears and even summer gears. It has its magic of giving relief and quenching almost every kind of thirst.

Think about it and I’m sure you will soon realize that every color you see on your surrounding is not just there by chance. Not at least in business because when people go around the supermarket or visit an online sight, their sight is what they mostly rely on. This is the magic of colors and how they simply influence the decision and behavior of buyers. So, make yourself informed.

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Cost of Selling: Why The Seller Goes To Pay

When you do business, obviously your goal is to earn from the revenues. But, a common mistake that many business owners commit is thinking that business is only about revenues and they often forget that even if you are into the industry of selling, still you have to spend and pay for what your business needs. Most do not recognize the fact that everything you sell is technically an investment as you need to put your money into it first before you earn later on.

Now, in order for you to know the importance of knowing the costs of what you are selling, you first have to understand how it works and what is its role in your business. In that case, you only have to remember three key terms; Material, Labor, and Operations.

Unless you are a reseller, you’ll know that your product will require complimentary materials and parts regardless if you will manufacture them or buy them from third parties. But, aside from that you also need some manpower and on top of all that, you will also be required to shoulder the cost of shipping the needed parts to your warehouse and assembling these parts. That would be followed by human resources from labor, to rent, to equipment, electricity to run the operations, employees to sell said products in your store, as well as sales and marketing and finance and all the other departments. See, selling is expensive right?

It’s either all of these will apply to you or only some would. So let’s elaborate each even more so you’ll further understand and see what information can be useful for your business.

Materials

Commonly, this cost would be for the parts used to build or assemble your products. It is different from all the raw materials and ingredients needed for the products to be complete or it can also be any and all items purchased for resale and/or to create the product itself. On the other hand, it can also be possible that your products won’t be built with parts but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to spend on them because you can also include here the cost of the containers, plastic, carton or cans used to transfer the products.

Labor

Labor is not only about manpower. For many big companies especially those who have plants, warehouses and etc, labor costs might also include the parts or machines required to create the product as well as all supplies required in the production. Keep in mind that you also have to pay for the shipping parts and equipment to the warehouse to create the product, including containers, freight, fuel surcharges, etc and of course the workforce (people) who put the products together, ship the parts, etc. But don’t forget to include the costs for warehousing, including rent, utilities, etc. because sometimes, these are the some of the most costly.

Operations

Lastly, in your operations, you have to pay for your office staff which refers to everyone who is directly involved in the product as well as for the use of software, hardware, office rent and other utilities which are also important. Know that your operations may adapt to changes which may incur more expenses in the future.

The importance of the costs of selling is to help you determine whether your hard work would be productive and beneficial in the end. Doing the computations would tell us whether our decisions give us worthy results and if we earn enough. It is a review to help us do something on things that we can still improve. Just remember to do it right and to do it fairly.

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How Important Is It To Have A Deeper Understanding of Your Brand Identity?

When we first think of a business, what we think of first is the baseline components of it; the logo, tagline, etc. But we focus more on what we want to sell, to whom, and how can we convince people that we are the best by saying we are better than our competitors. This drives us to develop a habit and a cliché business management style that focuses on being cheaper or affordable but still more effective.

But the question is, did any of that give you an understanding about what your business really is? Obviously, no because what you become is a full-time competitor that only focuses on sales. Businesses like these won’t last long and if they do, they stay on low level till the rest of its time.

Meanwhile, for bigger and more established companies, it took more than mastering the rules in supply and demand. It is about being able to establish not just a name but an identity that is not only unique but remarkable.

Brand identity is all about creating experience and handing it out to all of your customers. A successful introduction of identity is like making people taste a good dish for the very first time. Making them feel good is what you aim. It’s jackpot if you become their instant favorite. Right there and then you now you’ll keep them. But if not, still, it’s okay. You can still go the long process where you can establish the relationship. It’ll take time but you reach your goal all the same.

Of all the businesses around, it’s a tough challenge to become something unique or different. But keep in mind that it’s still possible to be special. Providing something that will be remembered as your own is not only about making something new. But it can be about making an old thing feel like it’s something new. You have to be incorporated not only to a need but to a certain feeling.

Desire is a greater motivation than a need.  When people get something that they desire, they treat it as a priced possession and it could develop an irresistible feeling making your business live on. So, it’s really good to invest on that.

Going back to the main point, before you will be able to employ and introduce your identity to your customers, it must first start within you. By bringing out the essence of your business, come out with a message. This doesn’t have to be directly sent to the market because there are other ways that you can make your customers understand it. You can have it on different forms, such as in your ads, your color scheme and even packaging.

Making your product a symbol of something is the most ideal outcome. But again, before you can do that, you have to be able to incorporate your product and services with simple feelings such as joy and triumph and should connote to empowering message such as beauty in humility and simplicity.

Brand identity should not only be what your customers imagine when they hear your brand name but it must also be about what they feel in their hearts and from their memories of past experiences.

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Importance of Initial Knowledge and Effective Gimmicks in Retail

Knowledge and strategy are two important things that a business owner must possess to succeed in Retail. Before engaging in a business of course it’s required of someone to conduct initial research that will give him knowledge about the world he is entering. Everyone should keep in mind that business-mindedness is not purely innate and those who are just street-smart won’t survive for too long in the industry.

There are trainings that one can undergo because one does not only acquire knowledge he must also know how and when he must apply it. Aside from that, there are a lot of available tools, modules, and software to aid in business management.

After all of these, now you can consider yourself as initially ready. But, take not that your preparation doesn’t end here but in fact, it’s just barely beginning. Let’s say you successfully launched a brand and a store with your own set of products and services, would that be enough? Again, the answer is no.

After starting your business, you’ll reach a point where you now need to deploy your creativity. This is through planning a strategy and coming up with gimmicks that you can offer to entice your market.

One or two gimmicks won’t be enough. You have to plan consistently and make sure to build a momentum to keep your customer interested. Having this good start will help you make a good impression that you can soon turn to customer loyalty.

One of the gimmicks that you can think of is the making of events. If you have a physical store, it should start with your launch. Do not settle with plain information dissemination. Make it fun and interesting for your customers by having games, promos, giveaways and by inviting celebrities. After that, make sure you have a line-up of other events that may consist of promos and even sale. You can target either your general target market or your patrons. Don’t worry, because it is not required to always put grandeur in it. Again, part of your research and planning is to find witty gimmicks that won’t cost you so much. The point here is for you to make a unique customer experience that will be remarkable and unforgettable for your customers. This is how you will stand out with your competitors.

As you can see, your knowledge and your strategies must work hand-in-hand. As time pass by, there will be changes in the trends and there will be a need for innovation and development. Through these times, you must always be prepared to deliver something new.

Successful businesses started with this and are still continuing to do this even after being established. The best tip is to never stop doing research, never stop planning and never stop the flow of ideas that you can apply to make more gimmicks to give to the consumers. Through this, not only you will retain them but you will also attract new ones. The cycle never stops.

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How to be a Successful Brand Online and Offline

Some says traditional form of retail is still the best, while some says online is now the new best platform for businesses. But instead of comparing and debating what’s better between the two, why not just be good at both?

It is understandable that your medium will also depend on your services and your target audience, so you might not really need the other platform then it’s up to you. If you want to sell online or just have a brick and mortar shop then it’s your discretion. But for those who plan to engage in both directions, let me discuss its perks and tell you how you can do it.

First of all, a business with combined online and offline presence is a good combination. Physical transaction is essential and by far still the best and most preferred by customers. Having a store your customers can visit opens a door to establish a good and lasting relationship between your brand and the customers and also gives limitless opportunities for additional sales.

Meanwhile, your online domain is where you will reach wider audience faster and more effectively. You can engage with different communities and you also use various tools to advertise, and promote new products, services and even promos. Plus, here you can also transact and offer online selling and delivery services to your faraway customers. It is also important because it’s where people look for and talk about different trends either about fashion, jewelry, lifestyle and many more. That can be easily used to know what products and services would sell best and who you can sell them to.

See, each platform can stand on its own as each existed and was used on different times and different purposes. But imagine being able to integrate both and utilizing the different benefits that you can get from them? That would be great as it is being used not only by most businesses nowadays, but even those that are already established.

Now, here’s what you can do to master the online-offline combination of business.

Build partnerships with other related businesses. Business partnerships will help the growth of your business much faster. Knowing how to negotiate with other businesses can lead you to bigger ventures. But it requires thorough planning to impress them with your business plan and profiling.

Invest on your retail space if you must. Make sure you have a presentable shop and staff. Provide a comfortable place for your customers where they can go around and feel pleased for that will make their shopping experience enjoyable.

This can be combined with a good online plan starting with a system that will allow customers give their feedback and suggestions and assign someone that will deal with the concerns to assure your customers that you are concerned and willing to assist them with their problems. This is what will help you build a good reputation and may also develop loyalty from customers. You can also make use of the positive reviews and ratings for potential customers.

With all these in place, you can manage your business and expect sales and revenue on both ends. Just make sure you are open for innovation and develop better strategies in handling your multi-platform business to achieve ideal results.

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How Social Media Shaped Retail By Being The New Trendsetter

For most people nowadays, social media is much more than just means of communication or form of entertainment. Through the years, it has also made its way to penetrate the retail industry by being a tool for marketing, advertising and promotions as a means of product selling.

But most importantly, it has become a trendsetter which is where peoples’ lifestyle depend on.

This is the function which can make businesses flourish and succeed. So, business owners must make use of this effectively for it to favor their advantage.

Conversations on social media are the primary means of setting these trends whether it’s about food, fashion or technology. That’s why businesses no matter how big or small finds their way to the social media world. Truth be told, it’s where you literally interact with the whole world.

Almost everyone in the world has their access to technology and into the internet. These people use social media to socialize which means they have a network of other different people that could extent to other parts of the world. They use categories based on preferences and interests, ideas, gender and age to group themselves and these will define their discussions and behavior. Using this information can help businesses determine their target audience or if they wish to go on the market in general because they sell common goods, still they can know what customers want and need best.

These trends that happen on social media must be the foundation of their business direction. Every product, promo and services must have a correlation with these trends because it’s what people will patronize in you.

Through time, being used to analyzing trends can help you develop a skill in predicting changes and the path where these trends lead to. It will help you strategize and plan for future business ventures that will help you become more successful and established.

As you group, you might also expand your dominion over the social media world. This means people will become more used to having you as part of their lives and when you finally reach a certain stage where you now have control in the trends itself, that’s the time you can start driving it the way you want to and the way it favors you compared to before when you just adjust to it. You can see this, on famous brands where they can declare promos, sale almost anytime they want and people will surely patronize because these brands are already established.

Mastering the industry you are in works hand in hand with your online presence. If you are already an expert with what you are selling, it would be easier for you to reach out and entice your target consumers. By that time, you will just be like an experienced and famous singer or artist going around with his world tour without worries because he already knows how to do his craft flawlessly.

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The Importance of Retail Brand Identity

They say the retail industry is a big competition. This means every business is a contestant. It explains why establishing a unique and remarkable identity is a must for a brand. Here we will discuss more about how important a retail brand identity is for the success of a business.

Observe some of the successful businesses nowadays. Putting aside the nature of their products and services, what common characteristic do you find among them? How do you think they were able to entice a lot of people to patronize them overtime?

Notice that most of these empires are now built on rock-solid ground. But they didn’t start like that. It took time, determination a lot of different things before they achieved their current position.

Their color and logo has become a familiar image for the people. They are incorporated to the basic needs of the people. So every time they think of buying something, they already have a brand in mind. Aside of the price, it’s the people’s trust which makes them patronize that particular brand. You can start with this part when starting your business. Use the fact that trust and loyalty can be earned by being able to make people recognize and acknowledge your brand. Create your unique brand name and logo and incorporate it with high quality service and products plus wise business management. That’s how you will be remembered.

Along with your identity is the target market that comes along with it. You have to specify and determine them completely so that you will also be able to position your business where you can engage with them effectively. Your target market depending on age, gender, preferences and other demographics will help you identify what platforms you should use. Upon knowing that, make sure you utilize your resources in a way that these platforms will work to benefit your business and company.

After knowing all these basic components, you should have an impactful launching of the business.

Proper advertising and promotions to motivate and maintain recall.

You should also have art direction with a harmony of colors and themes that will unite and lead to a specific and solid identity.

The ultimate important of having a unique identity is that it sets you apart from your competitors and gives you an edge towards your target market.

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What The Market Requires For Small Business

Imagine how complicated it is to run a multi-million business empire. The things that must be worked on and thought about would be imaginable especially when you have no experience with business. Most business owners are skilled and knowledgeable enough to handle all the matters that they need to attend to. Shifting to smaller businesses, though it’s still not an easy thing to handle, the requirements are simpler and easier to determine.

Now, let’s discuss some of the most important parts that small businesses must do to keep up with the market competition.

First of all, do not be discouraged by not having massive resources or high-end facilities. For the meantime, you can utilize what you have and what’s available over the internet. You can always look for free tools, software and manuals that you can apply to your business. So there’s no excuse not to make use of the advancement of technology which is essential in today’s retail industry.

Think of the long term. It’s better to think about what will happen next. Strategize and plan what you will do to level up. This will encourage you to grow and improve what you currently have. Have a vision and track your path to achieve that goal. Assign a set of objectives that will determine your progress. It can also be your guide so you can move forward one step at a time.

Know your consumers. This is one of the primary keys to success. Most often, this is what led to the success of many businesses today. They were able to gather enough data from the consumers so they were able to identify what people needs and wants giving them a heads-up about the people’s purchasing behavior. Thus, they can keep up with the trends and they were able to gather the interest and attention of the people. It can also be helpful in knowing what promos and products will sell to them serving as guide for future business ventures. The next part of knowing your customers is to know how to provide a unique customer experience that will also leave a mark about them.

Do not over-automate. Though using technology is important, excessive integration of it can be harmful. Recent reports reveal that people are still more comfortable doing their business with actual persons just like in customer service support but with exemptions to online selling and purchase. Dealing with customer concerns is crucial as it can define their lasting impression on you. It’s okay to innovate but make sure leave some “human essence” to some parts of your business.

In this world, you hold your own time. Don’t rush too much just because of the pressure from what you see around you. Compose yourself and do the things you have to do in your business.  Think of how you can improve rather than worry because of seeing other progress. Focus on your own. That’s how you can succeed as a small business owner.

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How To Make POP Displays Effective For Your Marketing Through Push Selling

Many retail store owners use the POP Display strategy in hopes of boosting their sales through last minute purchases. However, there are times that it fails to serve its purpose. This is because of the lack of persistence as well as passive implementation of the strategy.

Point-of-purchase displays can be an effective tool in either scenario. Let’s remember that point-of-purchase marketing is for businesses who wish to sway customers into making an impulsive or last-minute purchase or to inspire them to try out a specific brand within their store. Retailers can achieve this goal in different ways such as from shelf talkers to pull-up banners, there’s something for each product type and goal. Some may instantly get drawn to it making them do the purchase without a single thought. But some have doubts and may need an extra push to buy the product. This is why push selling is important.

Effective positioning of displays is crucial in retail marketing. But the best spot for a display is anywhere in the store where the customers can spot them. There’s just need to be a combination of additional signs to make it standout and noticeable. But there are things that banners and placements cannot do and that is to provide reassurance to the customer which would cast away his/her doubts.

There are times that there will be questions in their mind. So, assigning your staff to look for customers who seem to have interest on certain products yet expresses hesitation is a must. They can then try to talk to those customers and persuade them to buy. This may require you to teach them how to approach and to converse in a persuasive but not too pushy manner.

Just remember not to place your displays in hidden or unnoticeable areas. Keeping it on eye level can be helpful because putting products on too low or too high positions requires additional effort which may be too much for your customers. All you need to do is to utilize displays in areas of the store where shoppers are the most likely to see and actually engage with them. Combined with push selling, this can be a perfect combo strategy because these effective Point-Of-Purchase Displays can keep your consumers in the store longer while your customers work on encouraging them to buy more.

It’s given that POP displays do provide retailers with a great opportunity to retain the attention of shoppers’ for a few moments longer. But with only that, you are not maximizing the chance of additional sales because you rely on the initial judgement of the customers. So, there’s nothing wrong in having someone to try promoting the products once more before the customers leave your store.

Through your eye-catching display and store staff who are introducing new products and directly asking customers in case they are interested, retailers can work to ensure that more buying decisions are made by shoppers while they’re still in the store because it would be a lot easier for them to kill their interests in buying a product once they are already out of your store.

Remember that keeping shoppers in the store longer with POP Displays while employing additional persuading techniques will give you higher chances that your customers will spend more.

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Data as a Driver of Business Growth Outcome

In business, data and information is valuable to deliver wise business decisions that can help your company succeed. Effective use of it is necessary, though it’s not as easy as before. Years ago, business may purely rely on using data to know where they will begin. It also helped them decide over risks which made them successful today.

Right now, the situation is different. The plan that they have used in their time is not that applicable anymore. They have already established their empires and had direct control within the market. They are now the ones setting-up trends. For us small business, it would be a great challenge. But fortunately, it is not impossible.

It may be cliché but this is the truth. Technology is your best asset. It’ll give you hope and you can use it to gather and process data that use can you with your business plan. You just really have to know how you can use it properly and efficiently.

Start again with the smallest aspects of business such as the location. The need of it is as crucial as before. But the competition is tighter nowadays because of the many businesses that are already set-up. Regardless of your business, location is an important factor (except when you are purely online).

So, use technology to look on sites that are potential hot spots for your business especially now that retailers of all sizes have access to valuable market insights. With it we can compare foot traffic across multiple locations or see potential commercial real estate and their price points. Based on this information, we even can project how property developments or new store openings will influence various neighborhoods. This can help us identify where to put up our business, who our target markets are, and if we could see a potential for our business to succeed on it for years to come.

 Data also helps us become competitive and gives us an edge. It introduces us to our consumers and lets us examine our competitors for us to learn how to outperform them. Data reveals loopholes while highlighting areas of success, providing more transparency to support your every action. With it we gain a view of the current state of business and facilitate more accurate predictions for future endeavors.

Capturing and storing of data is crucial. You have to understand that the more you know about the consumers, the better you can attend to their needs and the more you can serve them effectively. There are lots of ways you can gather it. Just make sure it would be legal and that you would protect consumer information as to not tarnish their trust in you. Remember that it should also be voluntary. It can be a small piece of hardware on the door to count customer entrances and exits or a database of emails and addresses obtained from customer loyalty programs. You can also collect it behind the scenes without disrupting the customer experience. Understand that not everyone is comfortable to share their information while some are just lazy to do it. So, you have to think of other ways to deal with it such as monitoring traffic to the store’s phone number is one example of this strategy.

Don’t stop looking for the best multi-channel approach that suits your company and your target market. Keep progressing. Through this your company won’t cease to grow.

Business is now more complicated. It doesn’t end with a shop and with products or services to sell. You have to be equipped with knowledge about who your customers are, what their needs are and what the constant changes that affect their behavior are. This is what will help you survive and thrive in the business world.

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source http://clipstrip.com/pop-fuel/data-as-a-driver-of-business-growth-outcome/

Chatbots Engagements With Consumers

According to studies, customers are not comfortable dealing with chatbots and still prefer dealing with actual persons in addressing their concerns.

However, due to the fast pace in the operations of retail sector, businesses are starting to refocus man power to more complex jobs and let robots do the other simple and repetitive work.

This led to robots making their way to customer support; interacting with consumers who have concerns. It continued with the development of messaging chatbots which are employed though only for a very limited amount of basic customer service engagement.

Chatbots saves the expenses and cuts the need for additional manpower. Plus, it also promises faster response rate which could go round the clock. It is undeniable that at some point, customer service management can be managed by bots because responses can be programmed and answers to frequently asked questions can just be recorded and used automatically when needed. This makes the process faster and simpler without needing someone to monitor it and handle it. Another problem with people managing customer service is that, they might still have errors in handling the concerns. There is still a possibility of not being able to assist customers on the right process. At least, with bots, errors (if there are) can easily be traceable and it can be corrected in an instant.

But, what makes customer reject extensive chatbot engagement?

Studies and reports showed us that indeed, most customers would rather speak to human in a customer service scenario. While, others revealed that some would rather not contact the brand than deal with the chatbots of the company. This proves that people would still stick with the traditional means and ways of customer service management.

Some of the main reasons include lack of sympathy and consumer comfort. While some say that they are not confident that the bots would be able to help them with their concerns.

At this point, we cannot blame the customers because this is something that is different from what they are used to. Plus, not all of us can understand how chatbots are programmed. The same they won’t always fully understand how we humans communicate. We have a very complex nature of interaction with each other also because of our high level of intelligence.

This shows us that the need for chatbots is just minimal or only in moderation. After all, we cannot shove it down everyone’s throats. So, even though technology has given us this capability, it doesn’t mean that we can instantly inject it to our ways of life. The use of chatbots in customer engagement should still be studied thoroughly as it can have a huge impact as to how customers will perceive a brand.

Only time can tell when this advanced level of technology will be accepted with open arms and integrated fully to our businesses.

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source http://clipstrip.com/pop-fuel/chatbots-engagements-with-consumers/

Benefits of Customer Retention: How to Sell More to Current Customers?

Increasing the number of repeat customers and increasing the profitability of each existing customer are really challenging. Businesses should strategize how to extract more value from your existing customer base.

Your goal is to ensure the customers you worked so hard to acquire stay with you. This is possible by giving them a great customer experience and making them continue getting value from your products.

Boosting customer retention

Keep in mind that planning how to retain current customers is just as valuable as finding ways to acquire new ones. Here are some of the ways you’ll be able to gain your customers’ trust and loyalty.

Develop your customer support

Customers hate ineffective customer support systems. It is one of the major turn offs that could make them hate your brand as a whole even if it’s unnecessary. So, you have to be careful and you have to be able to level up your service to them. You can either have a live chat or help desk tool available can turn a customer question into a sale or a customer complaint into a resolution, whether they come in on site, through email, or via social media. The more concerns you solved effectively, the higher the chance these customers can be retained.

Meanwhile, customers see fast, friendly, and consistent customer service as the gold standard. If you help customers avoid problems and get the most out of your products, you’ll be doing both of you a favor.

Establish your own customer loyalty program

Creating a loyalty program can be as simple as rewarding customers on their second purchase. It would be easy to see who your best customers are by dollar value and total number of orders. Additionally, you can opt for automated loyalty apps which can reward your customers for a variety of actions they take in your store. Through this, you encourage them to buying over and over again.

Provide discount or credit to return

Usually, when you discount your products you make your customers expect for continuous dropping prices, which you cannot always cater or else you’ll end up with loss of revenue.

However, when discounts are sent to a first time buyer, they tend to actually love it. Sending a discount code for their next purchase with a first time order is a great way to motivate them to come back. At this point, discounting becomes effective in bringing back customers that haven’t purchased in a while.

Keeping customers is the key to grow your business

You can always have a new customer every day. But it will never be as rewarding as being able to keep and maintain current buyers which would supply you with constant purchases. Having them purchase over and over again with different kinds of your products will make sure you have a steady flow of revenue. Plus, if you treat well enough, they might even be your ground marketing agents promoting your brand for free.

The post Benefits of Customer Retention: How to Sell More to Current Customers? appeared first on POP FUEL.

source http://clipstrip.com/pop-fuel/benefits-of-customer-retention-how-to-sell-more-to-current-customers/