Lite1.6 Blog

The ecommerce marketplaces illustration cart and the keyboard feature

In theory, it has never been easier to gain entry to ecommerce. Investments and the fixed costs are marginal because everything is now very much available “on demand” or “as a service.” Digitization even allows people now to run an online business right from their bedroom without even renting large warehouse space. Let alone them going into debt to build up an inventory.

The flip side of it is that an off-the-shelf ecommerce shop can just get lost in the online traffic. Without the marketplaces and the SEO knowledge, sellers have limited chances of an acceptable ranking in the search engine results. A single product that is in a single shop in the infinite expanse of the web is unlikely to be found very easily.

Those who are only just thinking of the ecommerce marketplaces of the major American and their Chinese operators. When they consider the global platform economy overlook opportunities this business model also offers a medium-sized and also smaller companies. Retailers or service providers whose offerings can complement each other can learn possibly from the big players. And then they can serve their customers better together rather than just independently. From close, the exclusive partnerships to a loose cooperation, there are still so many possibilities with an ecommerce marketplace.

The Market Place

The notion of a one-to-one marketing is a myth in most of the cases. Which is why the retailers are now benefiting so much from the ecommerce marketplace model. This not only delivers all of the infrastructure and the processes but a wide variety of customers as well. If a retailer’s products are set right and the prices are really competitive, there is a good chance of you piggybacking onto an established player.

What might something as this look like? A good example to explain with is a vertical marketplace. The basic principle works for all of thesectors in which a product has to be assembled or has to be installed by a craftsman. A bathroom specialist operating nationally or operating internationally. In cooperation with the local tilers and the installers might be a good candidate for this model.

Global Opportunities

An ecommerce marketplace offers merchants opportunities also to increase the cross-border sales. In Germany, for example, there are about 73 large and even small online marketplaces. Selling physical products, just according to the business information portal iBusiness. The UK, the France, the Spain and the Poland also have significant players. Alternative versions have also sprung up such as the classified ads and the community site Gumtree. Which was bought by the eBay in the year 2005 and has since expanded to the U.S., connecting the local buyers and the sellers all over the world.

Valassis also has recommended in the report that brands concentrate messaging on the “familiarity, the consistency, the reassurance and the authenticity.”​ Given that many consumers’ are lingering concerns about safety and their uneven optimism for the future.

According to the survey that was carried out, only 39% of the baby boomers believe that the life will “return to normal this year.” While about 55% of the millennials and about 59% of the millennial parents feel the same.

A key component of the ‘normal’ life is the indoor activities – many of which were just put on the hold. Or severely were restricted during the height of the pandemic. As the virus was believed to continue spreading more easily indoors than the outdoor.

With this in mind, just only 49% of the consumers that was surveyed in February and in March. That said they were comfortable shopping inside the stores. A figure that climbs only slightly to about 52% of those who are being vaccinated. The percentage then ticks up again slightly for the younger consumers with about 54% of millennials. Reporting that they are currently comfortable shopping inside and just 57% of parents who report the same.

Marketers should try and navigate this divide by them skipping frequent pre-pandemic refrains to the “visit now.” And instead they should remind consumers of the measures they are taking to make the shopping safer, Valassis recommends.

This also can be of great help instill or confirm their consumer trust, which is increasingly influential in the purchase decisions. The survey found out that 76% of the respondents. Agree that they are more likely to buy from a brand or from a store they trust compared to the 71% in 2019.

Focus on the positive

​Retailers and brands also should try and avoid fear-based marketing. And instead they should tailor messages to focus on the positive aspects of changes. That was adopted over the past year, the report adds.

For example, with almost the two-thirds of consumers are reporting that they are content with the staying at home more now. You should focus on how they can enjoy life at home rather than the potential fears associated with going out. And the increased risks of exposure to COVID, Valassis recommends.

The Divergent sentiment is also reflected in the spending intent across the categories. In most of the countries, consumers intend to continue shifting their spending to the essentials. While cutting back on most discretionary categories.

However, in China and in India, spending is now bouncing back beyond the grocery and the household supplies. The Chinese consumers plan to increase spending on their discretionary categories such as the travel and apparel. And suggesting that the country is further along the path to their recovery than other of the countries. In India, consumers have been reported of a higher intent to spend across the categories. As they prepare for an upcoming festivals (Diwali, for example) and the wedding season also, which runs from October to December.

As consumers around the globe are recently adjusting to the next normal. There is a significant variance in consumer sentiment and also the behaviors across countries.

Heading into the fall of the season, there is a renewed sense of caution as the coronavirus cases has soar in parts of the world. While the uncertainty from the COVID-19 has persisted throughout the globe. Its impact has been greatly felt differently across countries. As a result of this, there is significant variance in how the consumers respond to the crisis and how they adapt to the next normal.

About our surveys

While these themes was held true across the 45 countries we have also tracked through the crisis. We focus on a subset of the 13 core countries. That we had to select them because of their economic significance. And the impact that the COVID-19 has had on their populations.

Marketing strategies must have to shift as consumers are now becoming more price-sensitive now than pre-pandemic

While most of the consumers are cautiously optimistic that the life will return to normal this year after experiencing the coronavirus outbreak uprooted. Most aspects of peoples everyday life last year, many remain concerned about the long-term of economic impact of the pandemic. And are now more price-conscious. They are now elevating the importance of communicating deals, the values and benefits, according to new research that was carried out.

A survey of about 1,004 US adults that was conducted by marketing solutions company. The Vericast’s Valassis business and a third-party market research firm reveals that nearly three quarters of the consumers are saying that they increased their savings behaviors during the pandemic. And the 82% plan to continue these practices over the next year.

The Effect of Covid-19

Part of this shift has a reflects to the widespread job losses, the pay cuts, the furloughs and other of the negative financial impacts. That occurred early in the pandemic when the regional lockdown orders disrupted the economy at large. According to The Consumer Optimism Outlook, which revealed that about 49% of consumers said their household income was somewhat negatively impacted by the COVID-19 in 2020. And the “vast majority” of those that are expecting it to continue in 2021.

However, another of the savings driver was the forced closing of leisure activities and the concern for the economic outlook. Which could dissipate as an out-of-home entertainment and the activities resume over the course of this year, the report noted.

Regardless of the impetus for making savings, more consumers are very price-conscious now and it is worst than last year. According to the survey. It found about 31% on consumers that are considering themselves price-conscious. While shopping for consumer packaged goods and groceries for an increase from the rate of 23% in 2020.

Given that money will still continue to be tight for so many consumers and that financial scars will run deep. Researchers are recommending brands “communicate with deals, the bargains and the big benefits.” ​If they really want to successfully engage with the shoppers.

Be Social

Yes, the introverts, this includes you also. If you want your business to start succeeding, you need to be social. As a startup founder, you will need to be outgoing. You have to connect with people in person at the networking events and even online through your social media platforms.

Sometimes you would have already done your homework and you know the right people that you need to know. Fortunately, you would be ahead of a lot of people. And this is not to say that you should stop networking because your mom’s friend’s uncle’s sister-in-law knows someone that knows someone high up, you need to close that gap and continue meeting and also learning people, this will benefit you mainly in the long run.

If you do not, just keep going. Either way, you having the ability to form new relationships and to nurture and maintain the existing ones is essential for the vitality of your business.

Planning is Everything

Remember that planning is very essential? Well, I hope you know it is. We all are aware of how most things work out when there is no planning. There are always different issues that will present themselves. Sometimes they may be small, but also, there are times it is big, and really, do you care to even start risking that with your business?

The never-ending list of the extensional details must be accomplished before you can start the successful launch of a new business. You need to build a business plan, set goals, and do not skip steps because they are tedious. Strategic grunt work is really crucial and it is the needed step to get progress, but you will also be forced to select tasks for specialists as your business matures.

You’re Not Alone

And you need to remind yourself that. It is a little too easy for you to get sucked into the stress of being a startup founder. There will be your good days and even bad days, and to be honest with you, those bad days might just show up one after another, so it is essential for you to surround yourself with a proper support system. Whether it be your loved ones, your employees, and particularly other startup founders and like-minded professionals, listening to the advice they give and using them as a shoulder to lean on is not only just a good idea, but it is necessary.

And do not forget, you will need to check your ego at the door before you enter the world of startups.

You Can’t Do It All

Just because you would rather do it all by yourself does not mean you should. Do not take this the wrong way, everyone is not great at everything. You should focus your time and energy on your talents. The rest is where you can then ask for help. Finances are not many people’s strong traits, so you need to bring in an accountant. Be humble and ask for help when you know that you need it. Outsourcing can be an affordable way for you to manage tasks and delegate work.

Before you go and start hiring, do an analysis of how much time you will save by hiring a specialist and then calculate what you will earn with the time that has been liberated in your schedule.

Takeaway

If you only have to leave with just one thing after reading this article, it should be, do not give up. Ever. And also, plan. Plan so much that even your plan’s plan has a plan. You will thank us in the end… You’ve got this!

Now here we have something that will never fail us if it is done correctly, the email marketing. 80% of the small businesses rely on the email as their primary customer growth and their retention channel. But the critical advice that we cannot stress enough is for good email marketing. There are so many things that will make you to end up in spam, like the rest of them. For you to benefit from the email marketing, you want it to be personal, you should always have a CTA and make sure you have a click-worthy subject line.

When was the last time you took a look at your phone? Are you reading this blog on your phone right now? My point here is, we look at our phones a whole lot. Like, constantly! So SMS marketing is another good way that you can reach your consumers. But people’s phones are in their personal bubbles, so you have to be smart with getting permission, exclusive to the content that you are sending them, and also reaching out to them at the right time.

So, we have the social media, the email marketing and the SMS—this is one sturdy foundation for a marketing plan. But why not make it much stronger? We agree! Adding the customer reviews and the referrals are a great way for you to get a more prominent brand voice behind your company. And do not forget, that also goes for word of mouth too.

Start with Sales
I know, it sounds somehow silly. But, obviously, every startup founder that is here is to make that moola. This is just specifically about making that first sale of your goods or your services! The structure is just as important as your goals themselves. Set as many goals, the small and big, both matter as much as the other.

When anyone asks me questions like what specific goals should I set? I say SMART ones.

To make sure that your goals are clear and they are reachable, each one should be:

1. Specific (simple, sensible, significant)
2. Measurable (meaningful, motivating)
3. Achievable (agreed, attainable)
4. Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based)
5. Time-bound (time-based, time-limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive)

Clean Your Budget
Yes, I know I may be sounding as your mother, but it is time for you to clean your budget! The cleaner the budget, the better the chances of your success. Being organized with your finances, having a solid understanding of your taxes, and also setting a rainy day fund are all things that will make up a clean budget.

A common mistake that new business owners make is that as long as they can lay their hands on a big enough wad of money, they can just plop it into a business checking account, and it will surely satisfy all the expenses. This is so very wrong and it is far from being wise. If you are not an expert at budgeting, you will have to enlist the help of someone who is. It is crucial to have a super detailed budget before you even spend a single penny.

Not investing in your list

By you not investing in the upkeep of your list, it is possible for you to miss out on potential opportunities to connect with prospects or subscribers. This can look like not adding to your list when you are receiving new contacts or keeping bad contacts on your list.

The bounce rate and the spam score are also important metrics, especially because the email service providers look at them too. This reflects poorly on your business, so it is a good practice for you to evaluate your list regularly and to remove the inaccurate email addresses!

Not paying attention to details

Going on and on about the proofreading of your emails might sound like a broken record. But if we all are aware that it is something we should do, why do we still struggle with it so much at this time?

Take the extra time you have to pay attention to the details in your email, like your grammar and the links. It will show when you don’t! One of our favorites? When the preheader of your email still reads the: “view this email.” It proves that you did not care enough to dot your I’s and to also cross your T’s.

You need to have created an email checklist that you will walk through every single time right before you start pressing the send. It should cover the basics but also it should include a step to read the email out loud before you start sending it on its way. It is amazing the things you catch when you take the time to read it out loud!

Make it focused on you, and not your customer

This one is very true for any marketing tactic but shows up a lot in the emails. It is really easy to start every sentence with the “we” But instead, you should try to eliminate every mention of your company in the first sentence or your first paragraph. Make it more about your reader, and the difference will show in the content that you write!

You can start by reworking some of your sentences. Instead of the, “We are excited to celebrate the grand opening of our new space!” you can write “You are invited to a grand opening celebration!”

Doing this keeps your readers at the center of your communication and also shows them just how valuable they are to your business!

Not optimizing for mobile

Mobile is not just the future. It is simply the reality when it comes to your email marketing. Up to 70% of your readers are making use of the mobile device and will be reading your email on their mobile device. That means the mobile should be your primary focus when you are writing and designing your email.

At the very least, make sure that you are sending a test email to your phone before you start to hit send!

Not providing valuable content in your emails!

This final mistake to be made might be most costly in the long run. If your emails are not providing any valuable information that your readers want, you will struggle with your email marketing, no matter what your strategy! You should learn to add value to their lives with the content that you share and you will be on your way!

Begin with the strategy and start creating a plan that uses your emails to accomplish your marketing goals! Then be sure that your strategy helps you to avoid these common mistakes you might face with your lists, your designs, and your cadence.

Not personalizing your emails

On a similar note, it is a miss if you do not personalize your emails. If you have already segmented our lists and you have created them carefully, you will have some valuable information like your contacts’ first and the last names of your contacts. Why don’t you address the email to them?

In most of the email platforms, it is easy to add personalized fields like your contact’s first name. This personal touch gives them a sense of belonging, it shows that you care—and it will increases open rates.

It is also been shown that emails that comes with personalized subject lines are about 26% more likely to be opened than those without.

So it is not only for you to create a better experience for your subscribers, but you also increase the likelihood that they will read your content. This bus simply a win-win situation.

Sending too many emails

You do not want to be the LinkedIn of the year. By having avaliable a strategy and a written email calendar, you can now possibly navigate the emails that you send and you can make sure you are not overwhelming your prospects or your users with communication.

Plus, your marketing team might even not be the only one sending emails to your potential customers on a given day! What if they are also are receiving email communication from the sales or from your support team? This adds up and can even leave a bad taste in the mouths of your customers.

Pro Tip: Make sure that you think about any of your automated emails that a customer might be enrolled in, too. If they are receiving an automated welcome emails or a monthly newsletters, you will want to make sure that you track that on your calendar as well!

Not sending any emails

This is just the other side of the coin to the sending of too many emails. There is nothing worse than for you having a great email list and for you never communicating with them!

Not only does this decrease credibility if you ever have hope to email this list in the future, but you are also missing an opportunity for you to share valuable information with these subscribers. If you have created your list correctly, these people have simply opted in just to receiving communications from you! It is missing a valuable opportunity to start sharing insights and stories with them about your business and what you stand for.

Inconsistent email design

It is okay if your branding and your design have changed and have evolved over time. That is normal and probably that is a good thing! But it is a miss if you do not update that design in your emails. Especially when it comes to your automated emails! If you are simply sending emails on a consistent basis, you will want to use them as a tool that is an addition to your overall brand experience, not to detract from it.

Now go back to your long list of emails (planned and the automated) right from the first mistake and then make sure that the design is consistent! This does not mean that every email will look the same, but you just have to make sure that you don’t have an old company logo or outdated header!

The Pet peeves are a regular part of life. We all have our own email pet peeves, like the overused sign-offs or the long-winded messages. But today we are going to tackle the email marketing mishaps that are far worse.

In many years of our experience with the email marketing, we have thoroughly had an inside look at the mistakes that have been overlooked when somebody presses send.

So if you are thinking of establishing an email marketing strategy that will work (and avoid some major embarrassment that you may meet along the way), here are we have listed mistakes that you will want to be sure to avoid:

Email Marketing Mistakes

Not having a strategy

The first and the worst: You are not having an email marketing strategy at all! This might manifest in different number of ways, but often times it looks like sending those inconsistent, sporadic emails without you knowing what you want to accomplish.

It might just be like one email here, another one there, with you having hopes that somehow it will move the needle for your business. But that is rarely the result.

The Email is still one of the most powerful tactics that you can make use of, regardless of your industry. So you having a high level strategy is very important. This will help build off your overall marketing strategy, but it only starts by being intentional about the emails that you want to send.

Put it in practice: You need to create an email calendar. You have to start with a list of the emails that you know are coming down the pipeline plus the ones that automatically send. By making a list, you can be able to get an overview of the experience that you are creating for your subscribers—then you can map it out on a calendar.

Not segmenting your list

Because it can be a big challenge to get any email out the door, another big mistake that so many companies are making is sending just one email to the entire list. While this might feel like a win situation for them in terms of efficiency, it is coming at a very huge cost to the success of your campaigns.

According to the Campaign Monitor, marketers have noted around 760% increase in their revenue from the segmented campaigns.

That is no small number!

In our opinion, it is better for you to send fewer emails targeted to those specific personas than for you to send a bunch of generic emails with a very low open rates and also an insignificant dent in your marketing goals.

One big advice for you, is to take the time to segment your lists up-front by your personas—you won’t regret it and you will be grateful you did!

In this ever-changing world of the social media, it is quite easy for you to fall off the wagon with your social strategy. The steady stream of new updates, the features, and the websites are just so enough to make anyone business owner’s head spin. Still, if you are consistently staying on top of social media trends, it has its own rewards. Is it the right time for you to start updating your social media strategy? You can read on for you to find out.

1. You Have not Been Paying Much Attention To New Trends Invoke

You need to be aware that changes in consumer technology, like the relatively recent explosion in the mobile web surfing, have a direct way of effect on how people use the internet. For instance, the Facebook had to launch a mobile-only ad program last year, something that could be very much lucrative for a company that understands and knows how to make use of it. Since the social media tends to adapt to the trends in technology, these trends possibly will ultimately affect your social media strategy.

2. You Have Not Taken The Feature Updates That Are Available Into Account

Anyone who has been on the Facebook for over the course of a year will be aware that things change at almost all the time. Recently they have implemented the social graph, which is a detailed way for you if you want to search for people on the Facebook with like interests. More recently, the Facebook had to give their page analytics feature an overhaul to make it much more detailed. Changes like these can be of help to you, it can impact your social marketing efforts, so you should try to stay on top of them.

3. You Do Not Know The Reason Why You Use The Social Media

Do you know why you are on the social media at all in the first place? If the answer you will give is “because everyone else is,” then that is the very wrong answer to give. Why? Because it is not a solid enough reason to start driving your social marketing. Do you really want to improve your customer service response? Do you want to Increase brand awareness before begin the opening of a new location? The Social media can be of help to you and help you achieve this, but you first have to define your motives.

4. You are Not Branching Out

If your company or your organization has yet to discover a way to start utilizing the social networks beyond the Facebook and the Twitter, then you could be missing out on some new opportunities to connect with your prospects. Sites and apps like that of the Pinterest, the Youtube, and the Instagram get about tens of millions of hits each day. If your social media activities have been just limited to only one or only maybe two social sites, it might be the right time to investigate how you can expand your reach. Be creative. The Picture, the video, and the location-based social sites have really exploded in popularity, so be pretty sure to go where the trends are leading.

Email bounce rate

The Bounce Rate – Total number of the hard or the soft bounces divided by the total number of emails sent.

Average across all industries – 0.7%

1. Highest bounce rates by industry
2. Construction, Contracting, and Manufacturing: 2.2% (1.51% in 2018)
3. Real Estate, Design and Construction Activities: 1.4% (1.08% in 2018)
4. Government: 1.3% (1.08% in 2018)
5. Lowest bounce rates by industry
6. Food and beverage: 0.3% (0.64% in 2018)
7. Consumer Packaged Goods: 0.4% (0.67% in 2018)
8. Retail: 0.4% (0.69% in 2018)

A bounced email is the email that could not be delivered. The Hard bounces are permanent and immediately undeliverable. The Soft bounces are the temporary bounces that may be delivered on subsequent attempts.

The Bounce rates must be kept as low as possible and they are easily managed by making use of the email verification tool like the Bouncer.

The main factors that affect the email bounce rates are:

1. Stale email lists
2. Poor data from bought-in lists
3. Failure to cleanse invalid addresses
4. Failing to provide confirmed/double opt-in systems
5. Content that looks like spam
6. Email list health

The Email complaint rates

The Complaint Rate – The total number of spam complaints will be divided by the total number of emails that are sent.

It is not always added to or even featured in the main benchmark options, but it is a key indicator none-the-less.

The complaint rate of your email campaign is simply the number of emails that the recipients report as spam. The higher number of the complaints that is received will increase the chances of your email address being marked as spam by the major email service providers.

Email addresses that are determined as spam will find it almost impossible to get to their subscribers.

Studied carried out far back as the year 2018 almost all the email complaint rates in the Campaign Monitor data dropped below 0.01%. The acceptable rate is now considered to be 0.1%, so all the industry sectors are actively below the point to merit concern.

The main factors that affect the complaint rates are:

1. Emails that have the appearance of spam
2. Poor design
3. Irrelevant and poorly put-together content

Email deliverability

The Email deliverability is the ability to make delivery emails to your subscribers’ inboxes.

This is an option that many marketers are using to gauge the likelihood of emails that are being delivered against the actual data from their campaigns. It is a form of email delivery rate.

The metric is complex because it is depending on so many different elements. It also makes the finding of an average email deliverability rate to be difficult to produce.

If we are to consider the deliverability rate of the emails that are arriving in the inbox against those that do not, then the ideal is 100%. However, with the bounce rates, the spam protection and the other influences, about 95% is considered to be an acceptable score.

What is certain is that your email deliverability is linked directly to almost all your benchmark data.

The main factors that is affecting the email deliverability are:

1. Authentication of the sender’s email
2. Double/confirmed opt-ins
3. Sending from free domain addresses
4. Image heavy messages
5. Use of URL shorteners
6. Failing to provide an easy unsubscribe option