50 Best Tips of 2012
Social Media
41. Not all social posts require a response. Robust listening platforms along with strategies to prioritize posts can make social response manageable and effective.
Al Rose, TELUS International, "Measuring Your Company's Social Care Efforts," March 30, ROI Report
42. Avoid overt attempts at selling and focus on community building. Don't just transform your Facebook page into a list of product links. This turns away consumers faster than you can imagine. Social networks are communication platforms first and foremost, so maintaining a flow of communication with and between your customers is key. Build a community around your products, engage your customers, encourage fan-to-fan communication and product discussions, then simply offer a convenient way to buy.
Ruslan Fazlyev, Ecwid, "6 Ways to Succeed With Social Commerce," June 21, ROI Report
43. Rely on what's popular at the moment. Pay attention to seasons, holidays, events, trends, etc., and ride the wave of enthusiasm. Tag other pages in these kinds of posts. When you strike upon a shared passion, you may be able to expand your audience.
Carolee Sherwood, Media Logic, "5 Tips to Help Retailers Increase Fan Engagement," September/October, Retail Online Integration
Video Marketing
44. Present qualified prospects and abandoners with video pre-roll ads that are personalized and generated in real time. The ad is based on the consumer's shopping history and presents relevant products and current deals most appropriate to their browsing behavior on the site.
Yaniv Axen, SundaySky, "How to Enhance Your Brand With Personalized Video," Jan. 24, ROI Report
45. Ensure your videos are mobile compliant. Social sharing is a fundamental goal of every dynamic video initiative. To accommodate sharing on Facebook and Twitter, brand videos need to be mobile compliant and driven by HTML5 technology. During the design and development stage, make sure product videos and other dynamic content will be viewable across the widest possible spectrum of mobile device platforms.
Jason Arena, KSC Kreate, "Optimizing Product Videos to Impact Consumer Intent," Feb. 20, ROI Report
46. Use video site maps for video search engine optimization. When you submit Google video site maps, your videos become indexed by Google. This enables your video thumbnails to display in search results for video SEO purposes.
Justin Foster, LiveClicker, "A How-To Guide to Being a Successful Cross-Channel Retailer in 2012," January/February, Retail Online Integration
Web Analytics
47. Track actions (not just page views) like adding a product to a cart, clicking a sign-up button or performing a product search. Tracking these actions gives you more meaningful insight into the behavioral profiles of your customers.
Elie Khoury, Woopra, "3 Ways to Increase Sales With Real-Time Analytics," Aug. 1,ROI Report
Web Design/Creative
48. Implement design changes that make your website look less noisy. For example, change the size and color of the "Proceed to Checkout" button to make it more noticeable. Also consider taking away the side navigation menu. Consumers will become more focused on the product they want rather than other options that divert their attention to different pages of your website.
Fred Lizza, Dydacomp, "7 Tips to Fight Shopping Cart Abandonment," April 25, ROI Report
49. To understand your risk exposure, think about the number of individual changes that are made during a website redesign multiplied by the depth of change for each element on your site.
Chris Goward, WiderFunnel Marketing Optimization, "Are You Thinking of a Website Redesign Without This Critical Strategy," June 25, ROI Report
50. Prioritize your buttons. Ideally you should have a single, clear call-to-action button on your page. If you have secondary buttons, change their color or size to something visually less interesting (e.g., make those buttons duller and smaller). If you have two side-by-side buttons, remember that the one on the right is by convention considered the default one, or the one most likely to be clicked on. You may also want to consider demoting some of your secondary buttons to text links.
Tim Ash, Site Tuners, "A How-To Guide to Being a Successful Cross-Channel Retailer in 2012," January/February, Retail Online Integration
