B2B Marketing Trainer and Consultant
Intuition is a powerful tool to push us to explore new ideas, new ways to approach old problems. But intuition should only be the starting point, and never used as a way to justify our choices. eCommerce is based on technologies that provides us with incredible amount of data. We really should leverage the data to test our ideas and intuitions.
Tip #147 – © Franco Folini When promoting a product or a service, always consider leveraging one of the oldest marketing tricks: Scarcity: Only a few products remain. You'd better buy now! Urgency: this fantastic promotion is going to end very soon, don't wait any longer! Scarcity refers to any limitation placed on a product... Continue Reading →
Implementing an FAQ section on product pages can enhance SEO and improve visibility on Google search results. Utilize powerful keywords and JSON-LD structured data to achieve rich results. Dynamic content engagement is crucial for relevance. Consider using JSON-LD tools and resources for optimal SEO strategy.
Not all eCommerce website visitors have equal potential for conversion. It's essential to focus on the quality of traffic rather than quantity. Key performance indicators like conversion rate, bounce rate, and average order value can help measure traffic quality. Similarly, social media strategies should prioritize engagement over mere likes.
A/B Testing is a crucial resource for digital marketers, but it should be viewed as a tool rather than a strategy. Extreme A/B Testing could lead to undesirable outcomes, such as uniformity in website content. This insight was shared by Seth Godin in a podcast featuring Kenneth Kinney.
For your Google Ads to be effective, those 3 things must be 100% aligned & consistent: Triggering keywordsAds title and copyLanding page A discrepancy among those will kill your CTR (Click Through Rate) or CVR (Conversion Rate). Tip #143 – © Franco Folini The additional advantage is that when an ad generates high CTR and... Continue Reading →
Before sending newsletters or promotions, ensure all links and landing pages function properly. Broken links can harm conversion rates, damage brand perception, and affect user experience. Consider automated link-checking services to avoid missed sales opportunities and ensure landing pages work correctly, especially in Google Ads campaigns.
Consider using the float-labels UX pattern in your forms. Labels are displayed as placeholders. When the field get the focus, its label is reduced in size and moved above or to the field's top left corner.Your conversion rate will thank you! Tip #141 – © Franco Folini Shorter forms have a few advantages: the user... Continue Reading →
Including your product's SKU (Stock Keeping Unit), MPN (Manufacturer Part Number), and UPC (Universal Product Code) in all product pages is necessary for enhancing your PageRank for those codes.The organic visitors you will get, will be at the conversion stage of the funnel with a very high conversion rate! Tip #140 – © Franco Folini Not... Continue Reading →
Don't limit your customers to only one payment option! Let them use their favorite method. The minimum set includes credit/debit card, PayPal, wire transfer (plus terms for B2B). But don't overdo it. Too many options will make the checkout unnecessarily complicated. Tip #139 – © Franco Folini For every vertical market, country, and eCommerce merchant... Continue Reading →
Add Security Seals throughout your store. Make sure they are prominently visible in the shopping cart pages. If your brand is not yet fully established, the seals will increase the trust, in particular for new visitors. Tip #138 – © Franco Folini eCommerce retailers measured an average 3% increase in conversion rate for all traffic... Continue Reading →
Don't offer the same experience to all. Personalize the user experience for returning customers! You have the information to do it! When a returning customer lands on your home page, offer a highly personalized experience. Populate the page with the products he/she checked during the last visits and recommended products based on his/her profile. Tip... Continue Reading →
Many eCommerce customers still like to talk to a real human by phone, mostly in B2B but in B2C too. Get a toll free numberDisplay and highlight it on the header of every pageHave a competent person promptly answering every call (at least during business hours) Tip #136 – © Franco Folini When talking about... Continue Reading →
How to make your content more effective? Create proper subheadings.Use bullet points to organize your content and to attract attention.Improve readability with larger font sizes (recommended: 16px).Add visual content such as videos, diagrams, and real photographs.Generously space the content to make it more readable. Tip #135 – © Franco Folini Content is not only about... Continue Reading →
A Search Bar is a must for every eCommerce! Leverage data in your CMS to implement the search autocomplete. Show search results using a combination of text and images and consistently with your website style. Tip #134 – © Franco Folini Make sure the search bar is always prominently visible at the top right corner... Continue Reading →
Do you want more links, also called backlinks, driving traffic to your website and improving your page ranking? Make sure your content is unique, well-written, relevant, and easy to share and link! Tip #133 – © Franco Folini Once you have created high-quality unique content you can send email to the most relevant website and... Continue Reading →
Only recommend companion products before or after the purchase! Never suggest similar, alternative products. Are you accidentally driving customers away by showing them the wrong products at the wrong time? While it might seem helpful to offer a variety of choices, the timing of those suggestions determines whether you make a sale or cause a... Continue Reading →
Add a Canonical Url Tag to every page! <link rel='canonical' href='...' /> It’s the single most crucial tag to help Google Crawler to understand your website and to improve your SEO. Tip #131 – © Franco Folini The canonical tag will tell Google crawler that a set of pages that differ only for their Url... Continue Reading →
Make sure all crucial content is served as plain HTML and not generated by Javascript script. 80% of eCommerce sites make this mistake. Google Crawler is is getting better at capturing dynamically generated content, but still prefer plain HTML. Tip #130 – © Franco Folini If your eCommerce website or SPA (Single Page Application) is... Continue Reading →
Almost all the user feedback we get, it's from users who purchased from us. It’s crucial for customer retention but worthless for customer acquisition. Usually, we don't receive feedback from users who never visited us or left without buying. Tip #129 – © Franco Folini Don't get me wrong, customer feedback is very important and... Continue Reading →
Franco Folini is a marketing trainer and consultant with a background as an e-commerce entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. He taught at UC Berkeley Extension and currently teaches at the University of Strasbourg and Università della Montagna in Edolo, Italy. Recently, he moved back to his native Valtellina in the Italian Alps. Franco frequently speaks about the impact of AI and other technologies on marketing. For more details, visit his LinkedIn profile or email him at folini@gmail.com.