Month: June 2022

So what can you do about all this?

Here are a few Thought Starters to help you plan and prepare for the uncertainty ahead.

Find your own alternatives

Price may be a conscious factor in your consumers’ decision to move away from you, so can you find alternatives that can reduce your overheads, like sharing/renting warehouse space, trialling new suppliers or looking at drop-shipping solutions, to pass savings onto your customers? This is a short-term solution but if your consumers are thinking this way, best be proactive and consider what you can do to keep them. 

Talk to your customers

Above all, don’t forget to talk to your customers. They are feeling the same way you are and a bit of reassurance and care can go a long way! You’ll likely find ideas from even the most casual consumer that can help you navigate this environment and retain your customers.

Review Marketing ROI and how this has changed

Take a good look at where you are directing your marketing dollars and the ROI this yields – look beyond ROAS to actual purchase outcomes, order value growth and expected lifetime value of your customers. The Assisted Conversions and Model Comparison tools in Google Analytics are a good way of measuring cross-channel interplay; we’ve seen time and again that consumers first touch and engage through Search and convert through Direct – you can’t neglect the source channel and expect Direct sales to continue growing.

Look at how cost and acquisition has changed since the pandemic – could you afford similar jumps as competition and CPCs rise? 

At what point do you face diminishing returns on your Marginal ROI? 

What are your contingency plans and channels you can shift to if this occurs?

These are critical questions to discuss with your team and will help you plan for the future

What channels have you not considered?

We know Performance is the driving force for acquisition but what other channels are you not playing in that can yield new customers and returns? You would know best what you’re doing and what you’re not, but look to competitors and market leaders for ideas, or look even further afield to related industries for inspiration (I’ve seen some great Health Insurance providers leaning into the Healthcare space to become more involved with consumers with health concerns, and they are front of mind when premiums come up as a result).

Email remains the top converting channel – do you have segmented audiences in play with offers going out to your customers to bring them back to the store? Have you considered gamifying this channel with quizzes to better understand the products your customers like, which can in turn drive better segmentation, more compelling offers and engaging emails? Is your CRM up to the task, or is it time to enrich your audience list, bolstering it with earned activity or by buying third-party prospecting lists? This is particularly effective in the B2B space, it may be worth considering taking a page out of their book!

Loyalty – Do you have a loyalty program? How is it performing? How do you know what your customers want from you? Don’t be afraid to ask the questions – consumers love being engaged and you will likely get really valuable insights and excite your loyal customers with the offers to come!

SMS might surprise you – with the right offers and focus on what value, this can be a powerful channel! SMS works effectively when paired with Email offers, but consider the role this should play in the overall mix and be cautious of frequency, lest you lose subscribers.

Content – Yes, content is a channel! Going back to Peter Field’s earlier interview, performance is only so effective during the decision-making process – be there with content that helps your prospective customer understand the category, questions they need to be asking and what’s really important when comparing like-for-like products – they will love you for it! Need help with ideas? Chat to the LION SEO team, we can research topics using SEO tools and pull out insights from your own data to help connect you to the questions consumers are asking and you’ll have everything you need to get started.

Partnerships – you are not alone, many business owners are concerned about the near term. What contacts do you have (suppliers, friends/of friends, frenemies) that you can support and what can they do for you in return? Reciprocity is the key to good partnerships!

Search/Social – Yes, we’ve come back to Search and Social! But the power of these channels cannot be overstated and it’s all about finding the right levels of investment; investment of time on the organic side (focused on reach), and smart investment on the paid side (focused on revenue and ROI). There is always more you can do with Search, so look closely at what’s performing well and where you have untapped potential.  You should look to outsmart your competitors rather than outspend them – use your depth of knowledge in the industry to win customers over and leverage the wealth of data in your campaigns to leapfrog your sleeping competitors.

Consolidate channels – We see lots of business owners and marketing managers who work with specialist agencies for different channels. While there is merit to the argument that silos are great for specialism, the downside of managing many vendors, having to switch hats each time and align the agencies yourself stretches you too thin, not to mention higher costs and holistic, cross-channel efficiencies you miss out on by working with disparate teams. 

Pick a niche player – Another challenge we see eCommerce businesses dealing with is working with generalised agencies that work across local, service and eCommerce clients. You know what they say, Jack of all trades, master of none.

LION stands for Leaders In Our Niche. We pride ourselves on being among the top experts in each eCommerce Marketing Channel!