Infinity digital commerce magazine March 16

From HuntRevenue

March 2016

Social Proofing

All about Virtual Reality Biometrics : The Privacy Debate

3D printing update Content in the pink

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Introducing IORMA

www.huntrevenue.com

Welcome

It’s March already where is the time going? In this edition of Infinity we would like to introduce you to IORMA an organisation we have recently joined. Its focus is in assisting its members and community to greater understand and respond to the many ways in which consumers are changing - in the products and services they want and need, and the ways they want to obtain them, this on a global as well as national basis. There are a couple of articles in the IORMA section that I hope you find interesting we will be sharing IORMA research and findings with you as the year progresses.

and with the assistance from the team at GWDevices.

The first of our articles is about Biometrics an ever growing sector as the world continues to search security solutions. There is great discussion about the impact of Virtual Reality on commerce generally. With this article we hope to give you a little more background

As always we are pleased to receive articles and white papers that provide new insight into eCommerce technology, markets and trends that our readership from around the world would benefit .

Please ask your company PR team to put us on their circulation list.

Back in 2013 we shared an article about 3D printing. Well, we thought we would review this fast developing sector that has the potential to impact every aspect of our lives from food to retail and manufacturing to healthcare.

We are proud to be Media Partners with Internet Retailing Expo who are sponsoring this edition of Infinity. We look forward to meeting you at the NEC in Birmingham 2728th April . If you have any questions just get in contact.

Contents of this Months’ Edition Page 4

Biometrics: Physical Attributes vs. Behavioural Patterns

7

Everything you always wanted to know about Virtual Reality

Introducing IORMA 10 Luxury Sector Report

Advertising Information For Advertising and Sponsorship opportunities please contact: ask@huntrevenue-publishing.com

Become a contributor The Editorial team are always happy to receive and review press releases, news updates whitepapers and even ideas for editorial content. Just email us at: ask@huntrevenue-services.com

12 Consumers need business disruptors 14

Making sure your content is in the pink

17

Bridging the knowledge gap

19

Additive manufacturing/3D printing is changing the world

Follow us on

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Are you Social proofing your web presence

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Reward Repeat visitors and make them feel appreciated

28

Getting inside the minds of online shoppers

29

Referral marketing is the future

31

A practical guide to the way domains can impact SEO

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Biometrics: Physical Attributes vs.

Behavioural Patterns – The Privacy Debate Account takeovers are increasingly affecting a growing population of online user accounts due to a confluence of threats, such as weak consumer password practices, frequent mass data breaches and brute force attacks against web properties. The scope, scale and frequency of these online attacks against user accounts has demonstrated time and again that companies can no longer rely upon authentication methods based on static elements that can and will be stolen, traded and sold to the highest bidder in underground markets.

These trends have recently led organisations to consider the use of human biometric characteristics to supplement standard, but weak, single factor authentication schemes that have historically relied on a shared secret, such as a password, to validate that the rightful owner of an online account is the one who is accessing it.

As these organisations investigate advanced authentication methods, they face an environment where the term “biometrics” has become an industry buzzword that encompasses a number of human second-factor solutions from “selfie” based facial recognition, to fingerprint and iris scans, behavioural patterns, voice - even the human heartbeat.

As such technology is increasingly proposed and used in online and offline

transactions; the use of biometric factors is rapidly becoming an area of concern from a data privacy and security perspective.

When most people who do not live and breathe online security hear the word “biometrics”, they immediately think of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, using physical attributes such fingerprints, handprints, retinal scans, voice print and facial recognition to secure access to some highly protected asset or location. For some reason, they don’t generally link the use of these elements to facilitate a secure login to an ecommerce, banking, or social media website.

While the use of these physical biometric factors has been a boon for physical security, where the person to be authenticated is physically presenting themselves for enrolment and subsequent authentication - many factors quickly loose effectiveness in an online world, where the user is physically enrolling and authenticating themselves through a consumer grade device that they own and control.

There are several factors companies must consider before relying on physical biometric technology to authenticate users in an online environment. The first consideration is that using only one physical biometric data point to authenticate a user at the time of login, is essentially the same as adding a static

second password – albeit one that can never be changed if compromised.

Perhaps the most significant issue with relying on physical biometrics for online authentication is that they can be captured, and in some cases reused. Let’s take a fingerprint as an example – use of such a physical biometric attribute is akin to when an employee was caught writing a password on a Post-It note, but instead of it being pasted on their computer screen, they simply leave a copy behind everywhere they go.

Humans leave behind biometric traces with every glass they pick up, every piece of gum they discard and every camera that records their image.

Unlike passwords or numbers, a person’s physical biometric attributes can never be changed, resulting in privacy and identity concerns if a high quality reproduction of a biometric element were to be obtained by a malicious actor. Just this past September, 5.6 million fingerprints were stolen from the office of Personnel Management.

From a security perspective, there are several possible use cases where compromised biometric data, like that of the OPM, can be used to access accounts without the user being present.

Using the infamous gummy bear attack against a newly released product with embedded fingerprint scanning, for example, was a variation on a well-known physical hack for inperson fingerprint scanners dating back to 2002.

Datamatics Ad

Alarmingly, as authentication of high value transactions is increasingly moving to multifactor authentication using some form of physical biometric, there is a real potential for criminals to shift their focus to obtain the biometric identifier, with violence. For this reason alone, many companies are steering well clear of utilising physical.

With this in mind, not all biometric factors have the same risk of impersonation or lack of effectiveness when used to authenticate online interactions.

A much less invasive, and more consumer friendly technique, leverages signals generated by the way in which a human interacts with the world around them. When taken in aggregate, such behavioural signals are highly effective at identifying repeat good users, are selfenrolling, and are tolerant of changes in the patterns presented as a users’ behaviour naturally changes over their lifetime.

For an example of how behavioural data is useful in identifying a legitimate account holder, think about how you use your Smartphone to interact with a website or application. Do you realise that you have a unique way of holding your mobile device that’s different from other people, if only slightly? Does your phone tilt a little to the left?

Do you normally hold your phone in portrait or landscape mode?

Do you use your index fingers or thumbs to type? How hard do you press on the screen when you hit each key?

This method, dubbed “behavioural biometrics”, aggregates hundreds of these human and interaction signals, creating a unique signature for each authentic user.

Using these subtle signals and unique signatures, organisations can easily identify when the account owner is not the one attempting to authenticate, even if the correct login and password is used in conjunction with the authentic account holder’s computer or mobile device.

Unlike physical biometrics, behavioural signals that make up a behavioural biometric profile cannot be stolen, duplicated, or reused – so they have no value to criminals. In the event that a high fidelity copy of an authentic user interaction was made, the mere attempt to replay the past interaction would in itself, be an anomaly that is out of pattern for any human user.

Collecting behavioural biometric data is non-invasive to the consumer, as they do not have to enter, enrol in, or provide any additional information to a website or application. They simply keep doing what they are

used to doing, interacting with the sites and services as they always have. As human and interaction signals are collected, instead of physical biometric characteristics, it is far more privacy-friendly, than some physical biometrics.

As organisations consider layering additional authentication technology and methods to secure their users’ accounts, they must select methods that reduce friction for their good users, reduce risk to the organisation or the consumer, and are sensitive to the privacy concerns of their users – all the while making the reuse of compromised authentication and identity information nearly impossible.

With appropriate protections in place, online businesses can continue as usual, and with great confidence - even in the face of frequent data breaches and poor consumer security habits.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Robert Capps, vice president of business development at NuData Security

Everything you always wanted to know about Virtual Reality...... but were afraid to ask What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality is the use of technology by a person to gain an ‘immersive’ experience interacting with a digital universe in a manner which feels akin to real life. It has been gradually developing over the past 10 years or so, and as computer power has grown so has the complexity of the experience.

Virtual reality (VR) is in the midst of a rebirth. A new set of enabling technologies – including faster processor speeds and higher-resolution graphics – are driving a second wave of adoption and experimentation. The result is a a transformative technology that reaches far beyond gaming where it began and to reshape multiple industries, from retail to travel.

Until around five years ago the virtual reality experience was limited to screen based viewing and interacting in a digital world. Gaming drove this development but outside gaming there were projects like Second Life www.secondlife.com established way back in 2003 where you create your own avatar and live a ‘second life’!!

Here a few forward thinking ecommerce websites set up shop. Fortunes were won and lost and worlds created.

Corporates used the platform to recreate their head office buildings and industrial complexes to assist new staff members to learn their way around. Architects prototyped

their designs to share with clients and to iron out practical development problems, finally the commercial opportunities of Virtual Reality were beginning to come of age..

But with the advent of more affordable 3D production and headset technology, and sometimes accompanying bits of hardware of various types, people found they could increasingly combine their physical movements with the images presented to them by the headset to truly immerse themselves in whatever world is presented to them. Despite products being developed as early as the 1980s, for many reasons, the technology has never lived up to the promise and consequently the idea, although regularly explored in popular culture, it failed to reach the mainstream.

Why is it relevant now?

Advances in display technology and computer processing power have continued to the point where in 2012 a US company, Oculus VR, was able to capture the imaginations (and $2.4 Million) of thousands of people with their product: the Oculus Rift. In 2013 they followed up with a $91 Million raise, and in 2014 sold the company to Facebook for $2 Billion. It’s worth noting that this meteoric rise all took place before Oculus VR had even completed their product, which became available for pre-order in January 2016. A host of big names have got on board with their own products.

It’s about games isn’t it?

Aren’t games for kids?

Originally the Oculus Rift was aimed at the gaming market which by itself is substantial, but the broader applications of the technology were always considered.

Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR demonstrates the industry’s belief that Virtual Reality is set to have a huge impact on the mainstream consumer marketplace, and not just the gaming world. Virtual Reality has applications in health care, education, the adult industries and more. As a technology almost purpose built for product demonstrations and interactivity, it has huge, relevant application in the drive to better customer engagement by retailers.

What hardware is available and how much does it cost?

Right now a large number of players are in the market with products ranging in sophistication. In no particular order we have: Oculus Rift – the one that started it all. Preorders were just announced and the headsets cost $599 US. HTC Vive Pre – developed as a collaboration between HTC and Valve Software, this product emphasises gaming.

Samsung Gear VR – essentially a VR housing to use your Samsung phone as a headset.

It’s actually much more impressive when used. It costs $99.99 so for those who have access to Samsung hardware already, it’s an incredibly

cost-effective gateway to Virtual Reality. Sony PlayStation VR – one of the first to be announced after the Rift, this was originally known as Sony’s Project Morpheus.

Aimed at the Playstation 4, this is another device that’s believed to be largely gaming focused. Google Cardboard – not actually a joke, this product was launched by Google to allow anyone with a smartphone to get a taste of Virtual Reality. You essentially cut out and fold the cardboard pattern and pop in your smartphone, ending up with a headset you definitely won’t get style points for showing your friends. You will, however, get a cheap and accessible way to give people an idea of what Virtual Reality can do. Around $29.99. *This list is by no means exhaustive, and there are a large number of devices set to reach the market during 2016.

What’s being done with Virtual Reality right now?

The first real-world experiences based on Virtual Reality are appearing in the leisure and entertainments industry already.

Europa Park in Germany claim to have been the first to implement a Virtual Reality ride, using an Oculus Rift headset to augment an existing roller-coaster in late 2015.

Alton Towers theme park have worked with Figment Productions and used Samsung gear headsets in their new roller-coaster: Galactica. The ride will offer a fantasy of space travel, synchronising visuals with the movement of the rollercoaster. It’s scheduled to open in April 2016.

shopping experience to be more ‘real’ we will soon see the familiar ecommerce sites transformed into virtual realityimmersive experiences.

This is possible with the growing availability of vast band width and speeds, one could only dream of just a few years ago.

Virtual Travel

What’s should I expect from Virtual Reality in 2016?

Virtual Reality film-maker Visualise, has partnered with Thomas Cook travel agents to provide ‘Try Before You Fly’ – a series of cutting-edge virtual reality holiday experiences using the Samsung Gear VR. Virtual Car Showroom

Microsoft and Volvo have teamed up to produce a virtual reality car showroom, meaning that the car showroom of the future doesn’t need to contain any actual cars. This is technically Augmented Reality but we won’t tell if you don’t.

Virtual Shopping A journey begun a few years ago in second life now there is serious development of a VR online shopping experience.

Facebook, Google and more are all looking at VR shopping as the next big development for online retail. As the Millennials with their 15 years of online gaming experience want their

With this particular technology, the sky really is the limit. As the headsets hit mass market, expect the slower market entrants such as Apple to make their strategies known.

Expect a lot of buzz around Virtual Reality advertising and the first product demonstrations to hit the high street. Expect a big Virtual Reality presence at the industry technology shows such as the RBTE. Find Out More If you’d like to learn more about VR, the best way is to follow blogs such as Road To VR and follow the Google news feed for virtual reality.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our friends at GWDevices for their contribution to this article.

You can reach them at : t: +44 (0)114 221 2004 e: connect@gwdevices.com www.gwdevices.com

“With boundaries evaporating and commerce becoming global, business needs knowledge to grasp opportunity” ‘ Ian McGarrigle, Founder and Chairman of World Retail Congress and Member of IORMA Board’

Now is the time to join us at

IORMA www.iorma.com

Become an IORMA Associate at: www.iorma.com/become-a-member.html For more information visit www.iorma.com or e-mail info@iorma.com or Phone +44 (0)207 096 1729 IORMA Limited, Bentinck House, Bentinck Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7RQ United Kingdom

Luxury Sector Report In London alone, industry gatherings such as Luxury Interactive, MIP Luxury Brands Forum, E-tail Europe, the V&A’s Luxury Symposium and the brand-exclusive LuxHub enabled digital marketers, growth strategists and legal counsel to show the future direction of the industry.

Consumer events ranged from interior design – Decorex and Chelsea’s Focus – to watches at Saatchi’s Salon QP and a plethora of exquisite art and design fairs from Masterpiece to PAD and LAPADA at Berkeley Square.

What is Luxury Most notable of all was “What is Luxury” at the V&A, sponsored

by Northacre Plc. It was refreshing for its approach – deliberately and carefully sidestepping the obvious.

It could have easily fallen into a roll call of ubiquitous Bond Street names, yet the curators chose to illustrate the more pertinent key concepts (exclusivity, precision, passion, opulence), to rather align themselves with the Crafts Council and to reveal the hidden aspects of the industry such as the harsh conditions of manufacturing in the Far East.

Rather than just showing off the latest Patek Philippe watch, we were forced to explore different aspects of luxury, not mere consumption; the idea that luxury is personal and is unique to each of us; luxury is having more space and time; luxury for the craftsman is the time indulged in making the object.

This was illustrated with Giovanni Corfava’s patient indulgence in crafting exquisite gold filament objects over many months in his Padua workshop. Corfava’s piece de resistance was the headpiece

on display at the V&A representing the idea of Jason’smythological golden fleece and interwoven from fine spun pure metal thread.

To conclude the exhibition was a one day symposium at the V&A where Corfava together with the curators and luxury brands spoke from different perspectives about concepts related to the show.

The most memorable concept was presented by Victor Buchli, Professor of Material Culture at UCL. This is the idea that luxury is inclusive not exclusive. Luxury goods catch our attention because they radiate opulence, glamour and pure ‘excess’. They attract everyone, not just the rich.

It engenders a universal awe that brings us together in admiration.

Luxury objects stimulate dialogue and enjoyment in which we can all participate and of course, aspire to.

The V&A symposium attracted both the public and the industry.

From the specific trade perspective however, two events stood out. First, as reported on IORMA Luxury, was the Managing Intellectual Property Luxury Brands forum, outstanding for addressing the real issues of counterfeit and brand protection in a global marketplace. Every aspect of IP and internet crime was out on the table and faced head on, devoid of confusing legal terms and demonstrating workable solutions.

Second, Luxury Interactive marked WBR’s first luxury conference outside the US. The format was unusual in starting with a day of interactive workshops followed by two days of presentations. The themes were representative of most

HuntRevenue have recently become members of IORMA and we thought that you would be interested in reading some of their reports and other informational insights into consumer commerce.

If you are unaware of IORMA, it is the centre for Global Consumer Commerce, a membership organisation that is a resource for businesses that recognise their need to understand and respond to the many ways in which consumers are changing - in the products and services they want and need, and the ways they want to obtain them.

Clearly, the future is global, with international marketplaces offering huge opportunities to develop existing and new business models.

Brands, technologies and consumers are learning from each other across the world, and IORMA supports its Associates in foreseeing trends and making changes to their business activities to gain advantage quickly.

To support our international vision, IORMA is setting up offices in major international markets.

Members are made up of forward looking businesses from a diverse range of sectors and disciplines. These include: innovation, design, retail, investment, technology, production, logistics, digital and mobile, travel, luxury goods and services, payments, financial services, learning and healthcare.

There are companies and organisations of all sizes ranging from fast growing SMEs to major corporates. www.iorma.com

industry fora this year: Personalisation, integration of digital and an emphasis on mobile.

Personalisation From the outset personalisation of the luxury experience came to the fore as was the retailers’ challenges to overcome silos – typically those dividing the digital from bricks and mortar – be they systemic-operational or arising from employees’ attitudes and entrenchment in traditional ways of working.

Personalisation requires agility and internal communication and this was frequently seen to be lacking with true customer service suffering abominably.

Even in luxury, too many brands are not capable of email or phone call response, let alone a named individual who can service their needs. As a result, consumers are increasingly frustrated with not being heard and wasting their precious time.

The attempt to functionalise customer service purely through the interface of digital technology is to a great extent responsible. Moreover, now this de-personalisation is creeping into the store too.

Luxury Interactive uncovered some positive examples of this. One simple solution to bringing digital in-store was presented by ELO interactive whose hardware and connectivity enables an existing website to be channelled into the bricks and mortar environment offering a consistent brand experience.

Second, we are witnessing more relevant and timely information being fed through i-beacons to consumers on arriving at the store.

Equally, similar to Yieldify’s online technology, it can be used strategically to flag up special offers as customers try to leave the shopping environment without having made a purchase.

Digital in-store will then remain an area of continual innovation as will digital direct to consumer, for instance, where the physical product can be linked to online.

Pernod-Ricard has coded its drinks with anti-counterfeit technology.

Similarly, Krug, a digital shy luxury brand has pioneered a coded, phone-scan, label on the back of each bottle to unlock the entire story of the elite champagne house. “Telling our story” has become the mantra of all brands and mobile is now a quick way to find out more about luxury brands.

Marketers are getting more adept at understanding mobile behaviour and utilising opportunities – for instance exploiting the fact that many browse phones very late at night or when they cannot sleep.

Key Trends going Forward Key trends going forward will be the growth of women as holders of the luxury purse strings. Milton Pedraza of the Luxury Institute suggested in his keynote at Luxury Interactive that two thirds of wealth in future will come from women.

Right now, high net worth men spend more in the stores, but the women spend more on impulse and more online.

Bloggers and influencers are invaluable to brands to spread the message in the luxury sector.

They are increasingly blurring the lines between objective reporting, advertorial, sales and PR, often being paid in kind or cash.

Nevertheless unlocking true value remains a dark art. Bloggers as personalities showing off big numbers of hits are seen as a conduit to wide exposure, but one individual with a few really great contacts could be far more influential than another with over a million followers.

Another trend is the ingenious methods by which online purchases can now reach consumers. Logistics and the

returns aspect of that is a problematic area. Convenient ways of getting products to and from people who work or are continually on the move will help boost sales. Uber Shutl, Ebay at Argos and drones are all innovations to watch and more will emerge next year.

Adopting and Adapting Tricks used in non-luxury environments will be adopted and adapted in a smoother manner for prestige brands.

Apps such as Tinder and gaming technology using the ‘variable reward’ process are already developing with luxury platforms.

Partnering of brands on platforms with concierge services going forward such as Vertu and the growth of these platforms and those of the lifestyle companies such as Sigillus and The Sybarite offering expertise in different specialist services is a visible trend in a world where experiences transcend consumption.

Four Seasons hotels created a model example of a luxury brand producing the ultimate lifestyle experience.

They launched their own private jet and offered well-heeled customers a 21 day trip, complete with photographer on board at $130,000 per person.

The travel experience was documented and reported as a story for the rest of the world to follow in Four Seasons’ magazine. In summary, this brings us neatly back to Victor Buchli’s novel idea about luxury raised earlier. This is that those who are not in the UHNW milieu are fascinated by this kind of excess and are able to admire and appreciate what is best in class.

We would like to thank Pandora Mather-Lees who is Director, IORMA Luxury

Why consumers need business disruptors The rate at which new business models – think Uber, Nespresso, FlyVictor and Unbound – are disrupting and destabilising established brands in their orbit is accelerating like never before.

With Uber so far successfully fending off clampdowns in court demonstrates this trend shows no signs of slowing down.

While disruption (or, competition) is not a new concept in the business world, it is now far more visible, prevalent and easier than ever. These new disruptors have built their businesses with consumer needs set deep in their foundations, utilising new technology to offer the goods and services that consumers want, when and how they want them delivered. They have also chosen to be more specialist rather than “all things to all people,” selecting market spaces in which they can compete profitably with business models that allow easy extraction of commercial value.

This is not dissimilar from what companies did in first world economies very successfully for several decades: growing quickly through the use of their size to extract economies of scope and scale. Until, that is, consumers got more sophisticated, industries more competitive and differentiation a life-or-death corporate pursuit.

Hence, innovation – of products, services, business model – was the skillset to get you there, and certainly today still is.

Yet innovation has not come from the established brands but “outsiders,” unsurprisingly given most corporates have sunk costs,

complacent cultures and silo structures impeding agility.

Which is why pre-millennium innovators were able to disrupt them.

One of the first was Freddie Laker with his transAtlantic airline making long-haul travel affordable, paving the way for the likes of Easyjet and Ryanair to build on this consumer appetite for reinventing affordable travel in the age of algorithms.

Apple similarly disrupted the PC market and Dyson, of course, launched a bagless vaccum cleaner no homeowner thought they’d ever need.

This millennium’s innovators, while occupying just as broad a variety of sectors, are also operating in the Big Data era where it’s very easy to crunch numbers quickly to extract insights on how customers use – or don’t use – products and services. Procuring and sifting that data can now be done by a grad student in under an hour.

Matching a product/service profitably to observed and expected trends is enabled by low-cost computing and an appetite to create a need that large corporates are neglecting.

What the early disrupters and those in this millennium share are Deciding to contest a market space where the big boys are not or, if they are, have not capably captured share

What we are seeing now is the old disruptive businesses being more quickly challenged by next gen disruptors, just one example being Metro Bank and its latest concept Atom Bank.

Yet there is still no sign of the corporates disrupting from within… once they do, they will make it much harder for the market nibblers to eat their lunch.

Pre-Millennial Disruptors • • • • • • •

Laker Apple Southwest easyJet Netscape First Direct (HSBC) Dyson

Post-Millennial Disruptors • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Vonage Nespresso Uber Craft Beers FlyVictor Unbound Airbnb Spotify Netflix Transferwise Zipcar Crowdcube Atom

Working with a clear business model Putting unmet consumer needs centre stage with observations, insights and technology aligned to do things better, faster, cheaper

We would like to thank Allyson Stewart-Allen who is an IORMA Advisory Board member.

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Making sure your Content is in the Pink Every day you create lots of content for your retail site and expect it to help you sell your products. The content should let your customer quickly find a product (on search engine or within your site) and offer comprehensive information. In short, it should be unique, exhaustive and accurate.

Product pages with such content offer a higher probability of conversion from visitor to customer, and growth in sales.

Content Health checklist The fact that your sales numbers are dependent on your site content implies that the content assets should be in the pink of their health. Below is a quick checklist of components you should keep an eye on, in order to make sure that your product pages perform better.

Product Description This asset is crucial due its extensive influence on both humans and bots. To humans, it explains product features and their advantages, helps understand products’ unique selling points, makes visitors stay on a page for longer time and influences them to buy a product. To a search bot such as Googlebot, they serve as a keyword container that is unique. The uniqueness is most important to get indexed higher on search results and reap SEO benefits. A copy of manufacturers' unique descriptions is a deceptive pit in the process. It has little value for human visitors and is considered as a highly negative SEO practice that certainly demotes a product page in the search result.

Keywords Although keywords are not seen by users, they are considered by major search engines’ algorithms and play a direct role in search indexing. They are used in page titles, meta descriptions, product titles, product descriptions, and may be present in product attributes. A good set will be a mix of both generic and specific or long tail keywords.

In the Google Hummingbird era, you need to keep your human and algorithmic visitors in mind when selecting and using keywords.

Page Title This is the first piece of information search engines read.

And this is the first piece of information viewers get to see on a search engine result page (SERP). As a business owner, you need to deliver maximum possible product information within the 70 characters (with spaces) limit of page titles. If the title is smartly infused with keywords, it becomes a killer feature. Additionally, when page titles follow a pattern, their creation can be automated.

Meta Description This is targeted solely at search engine bots. Usually, this content is shown on SERPs for viewers to get an idea as to what a page contains.

Interspersed with keywords, a cleverly crafted 170 characters (incl. spaces) meta description talks about your product, its features and even compatible accessories. The trick is to keep the communication informative and succinct so that search engines cannot truncate any important piece.

Product Title In “heading” format - the big, bold, coloured font – a product title hollers product information at search engines and visitors. It creates a momentary pause for both of them and assures them that they are on the right page. An ideal product title will be the one that describes a product in maximum 10 words.

A demanding content asset, the title needs a solid understanding of a product to take a call on how to optimally use those 10 words.

Ad page Africa/PageTiger

Product Image No one buys anything blindfolded. The likelihood of a visitor clicking on a link to a product page with an image is 5.5 times higher than clicking on the link without one. So, you have to have product images (mark the plural) on your site. These product images are the most common alternative to seeing and feeling a product in a physical store. Using product images, you can render a realistic picture of your product’s size, which is definitely important in case of the ever expanding range of wearables and gadgets.

Keep in mind, multiple images are better than a single and each image must have a unique image description in the "alt" tags.

Product Spec Sheet Like product description, a product spec sheet offers numerous benefits. First, it gets the product information structured and organised. In addition, it lets you show all features of a product, allows shoppers to compare similar products and serves as a basis for navigation and filters.

An exhaustive spec sheet uses the structured product information from your content management system. It is then rendered to create a complete product page and is frequently used to feed into your internal site search engine.

Content Quality Checklist Once the key points are identified, the next step will be to check your content against certain parameters.

Each of the parameters is explained below.

Structure All atomic content units should be kept under separate attributes and preferably be indexed as opposed to keeping all of them as one big text dump. Such structuring enables reuse of data, powers search and navigation, and allows quick and effective site translation into multiple languages.

Accuracy Credibility of your site depends on data accuracy. Accurate data ensures that buyers get what they see on the site. On one hand it reduces the probability of product return, on the other it increases the chances of repeat purchase. Buyers who receive products as shown on the site, accurate to the colour, convert to loyal customers. They return to your site and advocate your site within their circle; thereby increasing the chance of more footfalls.

Completeness Complete product information on your site tells your buyers that you know your product.

Together with accuracy, complete data makes your site a reliable place to shop. Besides, complete data directly impacts the navigational slicers (facets).

More information allows for more facet options. You may slice product information by attributes or you may dice it by attribute values. Once you are done with your slicing and dicing, you may offer sorting options to your buyers as well.

On the flipside, whenever a product misses a value or an attribute, it gets left out after a set of slicing and becomes invisible to visitors.

Duplication Duplicate data is frustrating for both you and your viewers.

While you have to collect and manage product data more than once (depending on the number of duplicate instances), your visitors get confused between similar products.

Visitors’ attention gets split, they get distracted, and you lose an opportunity to sell. Therefore, to help all visitors find exactly what they are looking for, you need to ensure that your site is free of duplicate products. From a search engine perspective, duplicate products get penalized in their page indexing, which

reduces the chances of a shopper landing on the product page directly from the SERP Conclusion This health check process must be done diligently, by assigning a score to each of the checkpoints and then checking them against a benchmark. If scores of the checkpoints are found below the benchmark, you should invest in content improvement. Although this work may look apparently simple, it usually requires very special content management knowledge - best done by content specialists in the shortest turnaround time possible. If your content scores are above the benchmark, then you may raise a toast to their good health. However, do not take them for granted; stay put and make sure that they remain as pink as you found them.

Many thanks to our friends at Datamatics . Go to http://luminadatamatics.com/retail1 to find out more

Bridging the knowledge gap Ecommerce training and education together with internationally recognised standards and qualification programmes are increasingly becoming a topic of great debate.

Many options are available from traditional lecture room environment’s to sophisticated distance learning initiatives delivered by a wide range of organisations.

In this article we discuss a few of the challenges and highlight the opportunities available.

The Online Marketing Institute (OMI) undertook a study entitled ‘State of Digital Talent’ that confirmed that there is a serious shortage of critical digital skills and talent.

Overall, the research shows that the ecommerce industry is now at a critical stage of development.

The results indicate that there is a substantial gap between the need for strong digital talent, and the skills that individuals inthe field currently bring to the table.

In fact, the gap between skills needed and talent available is becoming a significant chasm affecting job seekers and employers alike.

Essentially, the survey results indicate several key findings: 1) There is a pervasive, deeply running digital marketing talent gap, a substantial difference between what employers value and what talent is available.

2) Employers perceive patchy levels of knowledge, skill levels and experience. There is an identifiable need for talent at every level. Brands in particular need of entry-level social media marketers, and mid-tier managers in content marketing, web analytics, and content marketing. Agencies on the other hand, perceive gaps in mobile marketing, analytics, and marketing automation.

3) There are significant challenges in locating suitably talented individuals which results in a lack of consistency and a heavy reliance on referrals that leads to job offers based on subjectivity, without any industry standards or consistency indicated in performance expectations.

4) The industry is rife with missed opportunities in existing training and skills acquisition efforts – level-setting programmes are infrequently used and underutilised, impeding return on investment.

5) Organizations recognize the value of assessment and measurement, yet an absence of industry wide standards and insufficient recruitment programmes put employers at a competitive disadvantage, hampers career growth, and

makes it increasingly difficult for individuals to prove their worth.

7) There is currently a need for solid, measurable, and accurate digital talent education – programmes are sorely needed but few organizations implement any organized formal team training programmes.

Organizations are aware of existing programmes but feel that these are not adequate or sufficient for their needs.

With these findings and with our background being involvement in the digital industry, we conclude that the talent gap threatens to hobble the industry, undermining organizational achievement and individuals’ career satisfaction.

However, those who commit to ramping up the proper talent development, with effective education, implementation of measurable standards, focused training and hiring practices will ultimately win market share and achieve desired business outcomes. For services companies that translates into securing more clients and increasing client retention rates. For global brands, that means major expansion and market share gains that would normally take tens of millions of advertising marketing budget to even have a shot at achieving, and for the small business it means going from survival to thriving.

Having set the scene for industry training and accredited learning let’s look at some more prominent players.

The Online Marketing Institute (OMI) Based out of the USA and founded in 2007, the Online Marketing Institute is said to

provide the worlds largest online library of digital marketing classes taught by leading practitioners.

Thousands of professionals, entrepreneurs, agencies, students, and teams across the globe use their resources to advance their careers and drive business results.

Unlike traditional and generic education sources, OMI provides high quality, affordable, online, on-demand classes covering the most innovative and proven best practices in digital marketing, taught by world class practitioners.

Today, OMI has educated more individuals on digital marketing than any other organization, including thousands of students worldwide, industry-leading agencies, consultants and teams for many Fortune 500 companies, and hundreds of smaller organizations.

OMI´s mission is simple: to provide the most practical, enjoyable experience to learn digital marketing.

To find out more visit : www.onlinemarketinginstitute.or g Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) Originally founded in Ireland in 2008 the DMI executive team were, in addition to training specialists, had a successful background running a successful digital agency, advising clients on how to plan and implement successful digital marketing campaigns.

They have been running very focused, practical education programmes for over 10 years.

DMI provide both engaging classroom-based and distance learning programmes. The DMI are now recognised as one of the leading provider of public training courses for the digital

marketing sector in Europe. They also have satellite centres is India and the Middle East .

The DMI is unique in that it gets direct input from organizations such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, universities and other educational institutions as well as some of the world’s leading advertising and marketing agencies to ensure it is on the leading edge of industry development.

To find out more visit : www.digitalmarketinginstitute.co .uk

Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) This is the UK's only government approved institute for the professional development of direct and digital marketers.

They are committed to helping every marketer be the best they can be, the IDM exists to support, encourage and improve marketing performance from the first steps on the career ladder, right to the very top.

To find out more www.theidm.com

visit

:

Econsultancy Founded in 1999, Econsultancy provides an extensive range of training programmes supported by research, events and online resources. They have more than 210,000 registered users worldwide and have. Although UK based they drive a range of initiative’s world wide To find out more visit : www.econsultancy.com

Echo E-Business Providing classroom training, plus online and self-study courses, since 2007 and now delivering a range of services and products from their interconnected group companies. They have clients come from all over the world,

including government organisations, large blue-chip companies, smaller businesses and start-ups and run public courses the UK, Dubai, China, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Brazil, USA. In 2008 they established, the Certificate in Online Business (COB) programs that provide unique practical training for EBusiness, E-Commerce, EMarketing and Web Management Professionals, as well as Business owners. The Certificate in Online Business (COB)™ is now an industry recognised qualification, developed and delivered by leading experts at Echo EBusiness and administered by our group company COB Certified Ltd. The training which is attended by both large and small organisations globally, is the premier industry certification standard for Marketing, EBusiness and E-Commerce leaders.

To find out more visit: www.learnebusiness.com Follow Deborah @echoebusiness

on

Twitter:

Finally, in addition to these more prominent ecommerce training organisations there are numerous smaller consultancies offering a wide range of specialist training support.

If you have difficulty identifying training in a particular sector or a specialisation , please do not hesitate to contact us and we will assist where possible through our numerous training contacts and relationships.

Additive manufacturing / 3D printing is changing the world A couple of years ago we wrote an article about the way ecommerce has redefined the way we are purchasing goods from retailers in recent years and began to explore the way 3D printing was going to impact commerce generally and the wider world. Well the future is well and truly here. In the three short years since our piece 3D has developed into ‘Additive Manufacturing’ and has impacted virtually every industry.

Its power is not just about rapid prototyping, the localization of production or the creation of spare parts. The benefits are becoming more evident in mainstream production and the industry is seeing more and more applications that require complex, customized solutions which increase functionality and promote innovation in design and manufacturing, while reducing lead time and waste.

There are now 3D printing shows during 2016 for the professional market with http://www.amshoweurope.com/ and a raft of shows for market entrants. To find out more go to http://3dprintingforbeginners.co m/fairs_events/ One expert told us, “3D printing will have a greater impact on the world over the next 20 years than all of the innovations from the industrial revolution combined.”

So much has happened since early in 2013, when the US gunsmith group Defense, distributed a printed a firearm, and then made the files for its

design public and filmed its members using the weapon and posted it on YouTube.

For the 3D printing industry, it was quite literally a shot heard around the world. It didn't take a well-worded Associated Press headline to hammer home the new reality: 3D printing, a near 30-year-old technology, had arrived.

Before the dust had settled, eBay and Amazon began to cater for the burgeoning consumer 3D printing market driven by the hobbyist market of early adopters. In the June, Amazon unveiled a 3D printing store, and in July, eBay released eBay Exact, an app that allowed buyers to purchase customizable printed merchandise ranging from technology accessories to jewellery, from Brooklyn-based MakerBot®, France-based Sculpteo and Canada-based Hot Pop Factory. This illustrates the global embrace of the technology.

Digital designs could be downloaded from the internet and manufactured on personal desktop 3D printers in a few hours using a growing range of materials including many plastics, ceramics, resins and even chocolate!.

“3D Printing is the future” There really is no argument against this statement. It may not grow into a technology that allows anyone to 3D print whatever product they want, at the touch of a button, anytime soon, but when it comes to manufacturing, it is a technology that will vastly improve the entire process.

Businesses around the world are

seeing the increased demand for the technology, as they strive to find a workforce that has a deep knowledge of how 3D printing works.

Unfortunately, most of today’s workforce does not have a background in 3D printing, which these businesses are increasingly looking for.

There are two options , the first is to utilise the services or the burgeoning 3D printing hub service network. Just go online and see how many there are in your town or city , Like us I am sure you will be surprised.

The second choice is to get training either for yourself or a team member.

There are training programmes being run by both private organisations and educational bodies around the world.

The latest emerging trend is 3D food printing. In Barcelona Paco Perez the Michelin starred chef is decorating his dishes with a delicate, flower-like design. All done in a few minutes.

He then adds more ingredients: caviar, sea-urchins, hollandaise sauce, egg, and a "foam" of carrot. He calls his creation "Sea Coral". "It's as if we were on the sea floor," he explains. "We see a coral with sea urchins on it then when we eat, we discover all the profundity of the sea and its iodine flavours".

3D food printer in action

The centrepiece of the dish, "coral," is made of a seafood puree in an intricate design that would have been extremely difficult to produce by hand, instead it is piped on by a 3D printer.

In the retail sector, just when you thought that the biggest 3D printing news was a 3D printer from Mattel and Autodesk, PieceMaker comes in with a whole swath of big news that includes its own set of big names. As PieceMaker works to bring 3D printing into the retail space, including metal 3D printing with ExOne, they’ve also partnered with huge companies Ford and Nickelodeon, which is carrying a lot of important licensed brands. And they’ showed it off at Toy Fair.

Previously, Ford had made a deal with TurboSquid to sell 3D printable models of its vehicles. Now, with PieceMaker, the company is bringing personalized Ford F-150s and Mustangs into select retail locations. At Toy Fair, attendees got a first-hand look at how customers will be able to go up to a PieceMaker kiosk and, beginning with the F-150, choose the colors, chassis, and one of three truck body styles (Traditional, Baja or Sport) to be 3D printed on-demand. Mark Bentley, Ford Licensing Manager, said of the deal, “Ford is pleased

to license its 3D vehicle images to PieceMaker for this unique and innovative retail launch.

Enabling consumers to 3D print Ford vehicles at toy stores is just another example of the importance Ford places on the future of 3D printing.”

The hybrid approach, where objects are printed or partly printed in 3D and then delivered to the customer is starting to gain ground. We also saw the New York based 3D printing marketplace and service startup, Shapeways, collaborating with UPS to have its goods delivered.

Away from pure commerce 3D printing is playing an increasingly important role in the medical sector with developments in prosthesis , the replacement of limbs which can be 100% personalised using 3D scans and then printing. This also hugely reduces cost of production.

Then there is the manufacturing of artificial joints which can be personalised so ensuring a trouble free fit.

But it doesn’t end there, 3D printing solutions is being used to create models of patients more unusual problems which enables doctors and surgeons to explore potential operational solutions, this includes plastic surgery.

The future of additive manufacturing is not limited to inanimate objects. There are now developments in bio-inks to make living tissues. Using multiple print heads and the customized inks to create complex living tissues, complete with tiny blood vessels. Some pharmaceutical companies are already using 3-D printed tissue for testing drugs.

But back to the impact of 3D printing on retailing and digital commerce. Some futurologists are predicting that 3D printing will herald a seismic shift in manufacturing, supply chain logistics and consumerism.

During 2015 Edgar, Dunn & Company (EDC) had spoken with retailers to understand their perspective and the business implications of technological advancements in 3D printing.

The first fully articulated 3D printed dress

It’s now believed that 3D printing will lead to changes in consumer power, personalisation the protection of intellectual property, supply chains, payment processing and the traditional infrastructures associated with manufacturing and retail channels.

A retailer's supply chain has traditionally been built around warehousing and transporting products from the point of manufacture. 3D printing allows retailers to hugely reduce the carbon footprint associated with production and distribution.

3D printing will be used to improve the consumer experience, and omni-channel retailing will be coupled with a plethora of smart Internetenabled devices. The "click-anddeliver" retailing model commonly seen today will evolve into something more like "clickpersonalise-and-deliver,“ allowing consumers to purchase products as they appear in television shows or on Internet enabled advertising.

We see the importance to retailers of shoppers embracing multiple channels, we believe that retailers are now standing at the crossroads of a substantial change. One with challenges and opportunities in equal measure!!

Full Service Digital Agency...

BRANDING CONSULTANCY SEO & PPC SOCIAL MEDIA WEB DESIGN

0845 539 0642 info@digitalnext.co.uk www.digitalnext.co.uk

Are you social proofing your web presence?

So what is the latest magic mantra that will ensure your www keeps a ‘AAA’ rating in the eyes of your potential online customers? In a word, well, two, it’s ‘social proofing ‘ or, to take the buzz out of buzzword, it’s presenting your website and proposition in such a way that makes people want to buy.

So for example, as soon as we have smellyvision, you’ll be pumping the scent of fresh bread out the little holes that will be on all screen by that time, as soon as customers get anywhere near your Bakery section.

It may be the big marketing buzzword, but what exactly is social proofing? That oracle of the ether, Wikipedia, defines it as ‘’a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behaviour for a given situation’ that’s peer pressure combined with behavioural psychology. As humans, we’re open to being influenced – especially by other humans.

Social proofing basically uses this weakness, this desire to conform, to help form consumers’ opinions. In fact social proofing has been operating outside the eCommerce land in the world of bricks and mortar for many years.

That canned laughter you hear on a sitcom? That’s social proofing!

When you hear it, you immediately think what’s happening is funny – even if it’s not. See how powerful it can be?

In a real life example for gentlemen you might find one day that you have been invited to a slightly formal party and because it’s being held somewhere fairly posh you decided to wear a tie. On entering the main reception area you do a quick check and find that, if you go any further you’ll be the only man in the room wearing one.

The natural response would be retreat, ideally before anyone has seen you, find the bathroom,, and take it off. We do these things, psychologists will tell us, because we want to conform, we want to find out what the social niceties of a situation are and adhere to them. Apart, that is, from the tiny percentage who revel in doing just the opposite. In another real life situation you’ll find yourself adding to the busker’s collection of coins because, well, you’re not entirely sure, but lots of other people have. (Actually, he’s rubbish and they haven’t, but he knows more about marketing than playing the guitar).

Social proof your website and you will see the direct benefits as you build trust in your brand and generate sales– here’s a few ideas how.

1. Facebook widgets Third party endorsement from someone you trust is so powerful which is why Facebook widgets work so well. Knowing that family and friends likes a company or product definitely resonates more than a recommendation from a

stranger – 69% of consumers say that family and friends help them choose what to buy.

2. Video testimonials Your product or service is more powerful when somebody else provides a testimonial or case study. Not only does it prove that you have real customers, but it also implies a confidence that it’s worth investment from others too. It produces results – video testimonials increase sales by 600%.

Ask your most loyal customers to participate. The video doesn’t need the production value of a Hollywood blockbuster, but should explain the benefits of what you provide and how you helped those customers personally.

3. Most popular Selling products? Then make sure you show potential customers what’s currently selling like hotcakes. Not only does this provide inspiration for those browsing, but it’s also tapping into that human response to follow the pack, making those must-have items even more

attractive. Look at the John Lewis partnership. Before you get to whatever it is you are looking for, the latest version of their website will show you what the most popular products of the moment are. Surely, John Lewis are the most sensible people in the high street, and if they are buying lots of capsule coffee machines shouldn’t you – even if what you really need is an inversion table for your home spa.

4. Customer reviews Social proofing doesn’t get more effective than customer reviews, which of course instantly proves there’s a lot of people out there buying your stuff, but rather than risking a lot of negative copy, you might just ask existing customers which one your products they would recommend to other people. Think positives. Similarly, why not list your products in order of those that are most popular, more positives, and then show the visitor to your page other things that those people bought. Again more happy people buying things which keep up the impression that here is a site which is selling lots of stuff that lots of people like so, naturally, you’ll want to be amongst that happy throng.

Social acceptance in this party is as easy as pushing that nice big round red ‘buy’ button.

Not only do good reviews help increase sales, but they also build

trust in your brand – 73% of consumers say positive customer reviews make them trust a business more.

Some simple ways to increase quantity and quality of reviews include: – Requesting a review after a transaction has taken place.

– Sending out an email to your database to ask for feedback.

– Reading and responding to all your current reviews. The more you do this, the more consumers will see that you are interested in what they have to say.

5. Use your numbers It may not be in your nature to boast about your successes, but social proofing your website means shouting out loud when you are doing well. Freelance recruitment site Elance publicises how much money people have made using their service on their homepage. How persuasive is that?

6. Celebrity endorsements The ultimate in modern-day social proofing! Celebrity-usage of your product immediately tells others it must be worthwhile. The Duchess of Cambridge is the ultimate example. Retailers rub their hands with glee when Kate is seen with one of their items, as they know it will sell out.

While getting royalty to try your product or service may not be so simple, if you do see a celebrity

using your product or an industry expert tweeting about your company, capitalise on it!

Retweet the tweet, post a pic of said celeb touting your wares, blog about their endorsement – anything to show people your company is worth investing time and money in.

Remember: • Social proofing your website can build trust in your brand and increase sales.

• Don’t wait for reviews and testimonials – invite them from your loyal customers.

• Showcase your most popular products/services, to make them even more attractive.

• If celebrity endorsement comes your way, capitalise on it.

There’s lots of other, seemingly unimportant, small ways in which you can go about creating this inclusive feeling on your website. Amazon – and you don’t get much slicker than them in terms of e-sales – appoint some sellers as ‘best sellers’ of whatever it is. Well you think, they must be good, they must indeed be – the best.

Click on!

Let’s face it, it’s better to have a coffee machine you don’t really need than be the only person in the room wearing a tie.

Reward repeat visitors to your eCommerce site and make them feel appreciated In the competitive world of online retailing it’s important to engage and retain your loyal customers and it’s not just all about price. Great ecommerce sites reward and engage their regular visitors influencing them and turning them into loyal customers. It’s all good sound and practical advice so please read on. We recently read an excellent article by Benjamin Cahen the founder of WisePops that came via Kissmetrics.

We felt we should share a precede version with you.

There is a link at the end of the article that will take you to the full article which includes even more ideas, examples and tips.

You can use one or a multitude of these suggestions to create a legendary reward scheme that keeps you ahead of your competitors.

Offer Free Shipping Shipping is one of the critical factors that ecommerce visitors take into account when they make a buying decision. You can offer free shipping to frequent visitors. According to a poll from National Retail Federation, 66 percent of online shoppers termed free shipping “very important” when it comes to making an online purchase.

Connect Visitors with Your Brand Offer recurrent visitors a chance to be the face of your ecommerce site. Instead of signing up stars of the television or sports world to sharpen your connection with potential customers (which comes at a high cost), you can pick a pool from frequent visitors.

Create a Point-Based Loyalty Program A point-based loyalty program where frequent visitors earn points is a great way to reward visitor loyalty. Avoid making the system of points and rewards confusing for the visitors.

Offer Exclusive Insight Create a sub-section of your ecommerce site and make it exclusive for frequent visitors, or offer exclusive insight through email newsletters. Use these channels to offer content pertaining to upcoming products, future plans, etc. It’s an inexpensive way to reward visitor loyalty and generate a buzz about your brand.

Hold a Live Q&A Session A live Q&A session will demonstrate your brand’s ability to actively collect input from frequent visitors and respond to their requests in real time. This session can be hosted on the landing page of your site, your store’s social media profiles, or even offline.

Remember Special Days Thank visitors who shop on your site frequently by greeting them on special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

Doing so will help you develop an emotional bond with your faithful visitors on a more personal level and trigger positive responses when they

visit your site the next time.

While you should be greeting all your visitors, take time to write a separate message for the regulars.

Show Visitors Their Opinion Counts Asking regular visitors their thoughts on upcoming products, random images, etc. will demonstrate that you value their opinion. It also will give visitors their own “voice” and make them feel appreciated and important.

You can use a tool like Get Satisfaction to build a community where regular visitors voice their opinion or use your brand’s social media pages for the purpose.

Offer Tangible Value According to research, people expect tangible value when interacting with brands and retailers on social media. The best way to provide tangible value to your regular visitors is to offer promos and specials, perhaps a giveaway of a limited edition product. Plenty of brands can attest to this.

Feature Visitors on Your Social Media Pages Regular visitors will love being featured on your social profiles.

Featuring them is a great way to establish engagement, and it also humanizes your ecommerce brand. You can use social media apps like Facebook Fan of the Week to feature visitors.

Empower Visitors Empower faithful visitors with something special, such as offering them a chance to use your product or service in a unique way. This could also serve as a testimonial in addition to making regular visitors feel appreciated.

Help Visitors Give Back to the Community Reward frequent visitors by helping them donate to a nonprofit organization or someone in need like victims of natural disasters. Highlight how they are making a difference for a noble cause by explaining how their efforts bring change.

Host Appreciation Events for Loyal Visitors Visitor appreciation events give you an opportunity to show gratitude to your recurrent visitors. These events can be conducted on the web or offline at a theme park, but the type of event will depend on your budget and business nature.

Give out something at the event that serves as a lasting appreciation reminder.

Provide Early Access to New Products Are you introducing a new line of products? Give early access to your most loyal visitors. Aside from making visitors feel special (who wouldn’t be pleased to get their hands on something first), the tactic gives you a chance to refine and test a new product(s) before it is unveiled to the entire audience base. The early access strategy can be supplemented by a loyalty program.

Feature Testimonials Testimonials are one of the main forces behind purchase decisions, yet research reveals that only 1/3 of businesses actively seek and collect testimonials and reviews on a frequent basis.

Featuring testimonials from repeat visitors on your ecommerce site not only can fill this gap, but it also serves as a reward for the visitors.

Plan Surprises Surprise regular visitors and make it memorable. To make this happen, set the bar high by offering something above and beyond their expectations.

Shock them with delight and wow them with surprise.

Offer something completely unexpected.

Offer a Special Level of Service A few regular visitors may be responsible for a large portion of your site traffic, sales, and profits. You can reward these visitors with preferential service terms, which can be anything from waving minimum purchase quantities to offering customer support off regular hours of operation.

Give Visitors a Reason to Feel at Home Rewards don’t necessarily have to be of monetary value.

Consider helping your regular visitors with something they want to do online, or simply make them laugh, or host them for a day at your office. This shows them how important they are to you.

Read the complete article with examples and added tips (click here)

Getting inside the minds of online shoppers For online retailers, creating the right shopping experience has never been more important.

While technology may help provide access to a wider audience than ever before, it also creates unexpected challenges.

Abandoned shopping carts and failed transactions might be every retailer’s woe, but in many cases, little is known about the consumer psyche – which can make or break a transaction.

Nagging doubts about the security of shopper payment details can add up over the multiple stages of the purchasing journey and stop them from ever clicking ‘buy’, even if they really want a product. When selling online and to a number of different markets, retailers need to step in and reassure customers that their information is secure from the second they start browsing a site, to the moment they receive an email confirming their purchase.

A sense of security is paramount for shoppers when evaluating whether to purchase goods from a retailer online. Assuring shoppers that they are in safe hands throughout the experience should therefore be a priority for retail websites, and simple changes or updates to the site can make all the difference. For example, our recent research into online shopper preferences shows that, seeing Payment authentication and digital certificate logos displayed prominently on a retail site’s homepage is the single most reassuring element in the

purchasing process.

It is reassuring to see that retailers in Germany contributing to this survey recognize the importance of authentication services. But shoppers want to see these visibly displayed from the homepage, not just at the checkout. Purchasing products online demands a certain level of trust between retailers and shoppers, and making the process simple and transparent is absolutely essential. Retailers will struggle to inspire confidence in their customers if they cannot deliver on shoppers’ expectations and give them peace of mind throughout the purchasing journey. The online payment journey is inextricably linked to the user experience. If retailers cannot reassure customers of a quick and secure transaction managed to the highest standard of professionalism throughout the payment journey, they will struggle to keep shoppers engaged. For further information on shopper preferences in Germany and 13 other global eCommerce markets, take a look at our online payment journey research http://onlinepaymentjourney.wor ldpay.com/

Many thanks to Maria Prados, who is VP Global Retail, at Worldpay

Referral marketing is the future Referral marketing is destined to be the acquisition channel of the next decade. Marketers in companies with innovative business models and in established brands with large and loyal customer communities are mastering it fast, becoming the marketing leaders of their generation.

But referral marketing is not universally understood.

Misconceptions about how it works, and why, can inhibit marketers from adding it to the marketing mix. As a result, they are delaying their inevitable adoption of referral marketing and, therefore, revenue.

AN ENGINE FOR BUSINESS GROWTH The Internet has changed the face of marketing, and social Internet has changed marketing’s relationship with the customer.

Social media programmes have joined display advertising, email marketing, natural search (SEO), and paid search (SEM) to give companies a more targeted and human way to engage.

Recently, referral marketing has come to the forefront, giving marketers a way to acquire customers. Referral marketing engages prospective customers where they live, online. New customers acquired via referral

marketing are more relevant to the brand, since they share the same tastes and values as existing customers.

referrals with a rate of 9%. CLEAR now consistently acquires 20% of all full paying members through existing customers.

Well-known brands like Dropbox, Uber, and Fab.com have used referral marketing to fuel their growth.

Dropbox launched its referral marketing program as a way to increase sign-ups.

Search, keyword, display ad, and affiliate programs were costing too much and delivering too little.

The company decided to incentivise referrals, and signups quickly increased by 60%. In 15 months, Dropbox grew from 100,000 to 4,000,000 registered users, with 35% of daily signups coming directly through the referral program.

Referral marketing jumps the gap between awareness and sales.

Consumers trust recommendations above all other forms of advertising. That’s why they are more willing to buy based on a friend’s endorsement of a brand they have never heard of before.

This example proves referral marketing is much more than a way to build awareness.

It drives customer acquisition, extends market reach, and boosts customer retention.

What’s more, it is a costeffective strategy that is easy to implement.

1. Impact – A Matter Of Trust

Contrary to popular belief, referral marketing is not just another way to get the word out about your brand. It is a proven method for acquiring new customers, with conversion rates ranging between 5 and 40%. For example: ‘CLEAR’ a travel technology company allows travellers to speed through airport security by using a separate CLEAR lane.

It has doubled member enrolments’ through online

According to the 2013 Nielson Global Trust in Advertising Survey, advertising channels like referral marketing are now the third-ranked format for the delivery of marketing messages worldwide.

It states, “Recommendations from friends and family, often referred to as earned advertising, are still the most influential, 84% of global respondents across 58 countries said this source was the most trustworthy.” “Earned advertising channels have empowered consumers to advocate for their favourite brands, something that shouldn’t go unnoticed by brand advertisers,” said Randall Beard, Global Head of Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen.

2. Reach – Invaluable Introductions Reaching as many new prospects as possible is a priority for marketing organisations, and referral marketing reaches prospects who aren’t searching for you. Beyond accessing a hugeaudience, forward thinking marketers are finding that people reached through referrals are also more likely to become customers.

3. Retention – Got Loyalty?

If referral marketing conversions represented one-time-only transactions, marketers might dismiss the referral channel as a short-term, low-value play. In fact, the opposite is true.

Vonage, the high-quality VoIP home and international phone service, has found a correlation between referrals and long-term loyalty. “Retention rates for referred customers well surpass our average,” said Robert Szczepaniak, Marketing Manager.

4. Cost – More Bang For The Buck A common concern among marketers is the cost of referral marketing’s incentives for

advocates and friends. Some marketers see these costs as a threat to the bottom line. Yet first-hand experience tells another story. “In terms of cost per account, referral marketing is by far our most efficient channel,” said John Beck of OptionsHouse.

“We knew referrals were going to be an important part of our business,” said Hobson Brown, co-founder at Criquet, the Austin Texasbased maker of organic golf shirts and polos. “But we hadn’t fully tapped the power of our own customers until now.

Customer referrals are now our highest ‘paid’ acquisition channel. Online personal finance serviceMint.com generated 8,500

new leads for 50 cents each by emailing existing subscribers with a referral offer that they could forward via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

Conclusion Customer acquisition is every marketer’s priority.

Finding reliable ways to acquire more customers efficiently has become increasingly difficult. Introducing the 3rd channel in customer acquisition - Referral Marketing .

Whatever your company, a referral program should be your next initiative to acquire new customers.

We would like to give special thanks to the Extole team for providing much of the detail of this article.

See more at: http://www.extole.com/resources

A practical guide to the way Domains can impact your SEO The extent to which domains impact search engine optimization, and how, has changed over the years. Already rife with misinformation, the topic of domains and SEO continues to confuse and mislead.

First, a little level setting. A “domain” is the piece of a URL that people identify with most strongly — the “yoursite.com” piece.

The image below illustrates the different pieces of the domain’s URL in both technical and more commonly used terms.

The elements in a URL are “protocol,” “subdomain,” “domain,” “top level domain (TLD),” “directory,” and “subdomain.”

The domain serves as the friendly address for a site on the web. Each domain is mapped to an IP address, a string of four numbers that serves as the actual server-level address for a site. IP addresses are like GPS coordinates, and domains are like street address that people use to remember a location.

When it comes to domains and SEO, the following five areas can benefit or harm organic search performance.

Exact Match Domains Once upon a time, exact match domains were one of the best ways to dominate search results.

Today, their influence is waning, except when paired with other strongly positive algorithmic signals.

For example, seven years ago if you sold shoe laces and your domain was shoelaces.com, it was a very strong signal that helped you rank on the first page of search results. As a result, businesses snapped up domains with keywords in them, often resulting in ridiculous strings of hyphenated words like shoe-laces-online-store.com.

People started to use these keyword domains to win search rankings for armies of spammy sites that weren’t beneficial to searchers, introducing an unfair advantage in organic search. As often happens with the combination of unfair SEO advantage and poor searcher experience, search engines began diluting the influence of exact match domains on their algorithms.

Recently, algorithm updates like Google’s Exact Match Domain update have decreased the individual influence that keyword domains have in relation to other important ranking signals like link authority and content quality.

In other words, having a keyword domain is a benefit if you also have other strong SEO signals like a quality link profile and unique, high-quality content. However, spammy sites that host scraped content with no quality signals shouldn’t be able to rank well based solely on their keyword domains.

There are many examples where sites that shouldn’t are winning based on this unfair advantage.

The point is, it’s an advantage that the search engines are actively working to remove. Do not try to use it to your advantage in the short term.

Domain Authority I touched on it above, but let’s talk more about authority and domains. Every site that links to any page on your domain passes some amount of link authority to that page. It’s like a little vote of confidence in the quality of your page’s content.

The more votes of quality your individual page gets from other quality sites, the higher opinion search engines have of your individual web page.

Every site that links to any page on your domain passes some amount of link authority to that page. It’s like a little vote of confidence in the quality of your page’s content.

Domains are special when it comes to authority because the domain aggregates the link authority that all of your individual pages earn. Think of it like water droplets on a plant’s leaf. Each leaf collects droplets of water when it rains, and the water serves to nourish the whole plant.

Every page on a subdomain shares its link authority freely with the whole. If the domain hosts different subdomains,

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