Posted on

Using Chatbots in an e-commerce Store

One of the biggest concerns facing online retailers is how to mimic the in-store experience for customers who want to speak to an actual knowledgeable salesperson.  Now through the advent of artificial intelligence technologies and the creation of talking avatars and chatbots who can engage with online customers and ask them sales related questions, there is a solution for both customers and e-commerce retailers.

A chatbot can help guide an online customer to what products they are looking for and then through the process to purchase their goods and complete the credit card transaction.  It is a great way to save a sale even if a customer for any reason the purchase stops during the checkout process after selecting a product, the chat agent can immediately check to inquire if the customer has any questions or needs more information to complete the sale.  This should decrease shopping cart abandonment for the site. 

A business can also use the chatbot to offer personalized instant discount coupon codes to a potential customer to get the “off the fence” to  complete an important transaction.  In addition, by using a chatbot, you be able to collect, name, email and other personal information to help build a mailing list from website visitors who are just browsing, and gives the store the opportunity to retarget the potential buyer to get them to come back at a later date.  All the bot has to do is ask for a name and email in exchange for a coupon to use in the future.

Posted on

HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT INFLUENCER TO PROMOTE A BUSINESS

Facebook promotion

Did you know that almost 63% of business marketers today work with at least 5 or more influencers on all their campaigns? Why do you think companies are all embracing the idea of influencer marketing? The reason is simple, audiences trust influencers, and they find it relatively easy connecting with them. They have a way of reaching out to their audience, influencing their opinions, decisions, and converting them into loyal customers. Let’s take a look at Huda Kattan for instance, who is a very popular beauty influencer. When she recommends or mentions a beauty product, how many people do you think would want to buy such a product just because of her mention? Several thousand, if not millions! However, finding the right influencers for your business isn’t always an easy task, and sometimes, it can be a very daunting task. In this light, VRG Web Design created a strategy to help you find the right influencer to promote your business service.

Understanding your audiences

In order to find the perfect influencer to promote your business, you first need to understand your audiences. The reason is that your audience is one of the major cornerstones of any influencer marketing strategy. Failure to understand whether or not your target audiences are the ones following an influencer can mar your marketing strategy. For instance, let’s say you have a fashion brand that sells beauty products. And you decide to work with a fashion/beauty blogger so as to boost your brand recognition and sales. However, do you think you’ve made the right call by merely choosing any random blogger because he/she has a million followers? I don’t think so! You need to understand that not every fashion influencer has the same kind of target audience. While some may target women and children, others target only men and millennials as their audiences.  So, beyond the fame and the number of followers, what is it you need to look for? You have to ensure that your target audiences are in line with those of the influencer you are opting for.

Know your influencers

Now that we’ve established the significance of your audience let’s take a look at how you need to evaluate an influencer before you can conclude that he/she is right for your business.

Their reach

The reach of an influencer simply refers to the number of followers they have on their blog or social media pages and profiles

Their engagement

Beyond the reach of an influencer, it is important to check their engagement rates. A very high engagement rate shows that their audiences are truly interested in their content.

Authenticity and personality

An influencer’s authenticity is reflected in their followers’ trust. Hence you need to find influencers whose posts don’t look like something they are paid to do. Also important is their personality. You need to be sure you are choosing an influencer whose personality aligns with your brand’s standards and values.

Where can you find the right influencers?

Social Media

The easiest way to find the right influencers for your business is to look for them on social media.

Hashtags

Hashtags make content accessible and searchable on social platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. So in order to find influencers for your business, search for the right hashtags that may be relevant to your niche.

Google Alerts

Another way to find them is by setting alerts for keywords relevant to your business on search engines like Google. That way, you will find blogs, topics, and articles relating to your business or products.

Blogger outreach platforms

In order to find influencers, check out their blog domain authority and social media statistics to find the ones that tick your boxes.

HOW TO CONVINCE INFLUENCERS TO MENTION YOU IN THEIR POSTS

Finding the right influencer is just the beginning of the process; the real work comes in the form of convincing them. So, how can one convince an influencer to mention their brand in their videos or posts?

Paid marketing

This is, by far, the easiest way to go. Contact the influencers you’ve chosen and let them know about the proposed deal. If you are financially buoyant enough to afford them, this can be a very effective strategy. But you will need to approach them with warm introductions, compelling proposals, attractive deals, and follow them up.

However, if you don’t really have much to spend on influencer marketing, you can try the following tricks.

Offer free publicity

People are often motivated to share posts, mention names and brands that say good things about them or highlight their positive traits. Once you’ve identified the right influencer, you can start to write blogs, share stories, and publish news about your brand that stylishly informs the public about the influencer. Once you’ve created these contents, you can then tag the influencer on social media.

Frequent their sites

If the influencer has, say, a blog or website, you can start by sharing relevant industry news on the site, guest posting about new and relevant industry developments. This will, no doubt, captivate the influencer and invariably encourage him/her to tell his audience about the new industry developments, and hopefully reference your brand in the process.

Provide quality and ask for mentions

Asking an influencer for mentions wouldn’t bring the world crashing down, but you need to be sure that you are providing him/her with quality content – something they consider valuable and beneficial to their audiences. Influencers would be happy to inform their audiences about your business when they see the potential benefits therein.

Posted on

Why Mobile Search is Important to Businsses

mobile search

More and More people are searching for goods and services on their cell phones and mobile devices. Google knows this and as such will present different results when someone is searching on their phone and on the road based upon their actual location as opposed to at their home or work. With this in mind, businesses need to be mindful of how their website responds to different screen sizes and how its location schema and other mobile signals might effect its ranking on Google, Siri and other voice searches.

infographic on mobile search

Posted on

Top 5 ways to attract online real estate leads

digital marketing tags

As of 2018, the real estate industry has grown enormously by 11.4%.  This growth presents a golden opportunity for real estate agents to land more real estate leads and improve their earnings.

The internet has not only enhanced real estate, it has revolutionized the way agents generate real estate leads. If your website isn’t optimized for improved lead generation, then you are really missing out. In the next few years, Millennials will make up 33% of real estate market. Of those, 90% of them will search online when they are looking for a home.

The real estate market is a very competitive one. So competitive that finding a customer who will patronize you is extremely difficult. If you don’t have a network, especially if you are just starting out, it is even tougher.

For agents finding it difficult in this industry or pushing for more publicity and productivity, these helpful tips demonstrate how to attract online real estate leads.

Website Optimization and email list sourcing

Your website is the primary source of lead generation online. It is an opportunity for you to offer your visitors real value and help them establish helpful interaction with your brand for the long-term.

Many agents miss out on this aspect. It isn’t just an opportunity for you to post content about your expertise in real estate. Rather, it is a platform to create valuable content showing your visitors how much value you can offer and how much help you can provide.

A simple way to check if your website is too company focused is by checking how many times you have written “We”. This practice is very bad because people are seeking answers for questions they have typed into Google, therefore connect with your leads by using the word “you” more often. You also may want to consider providing some type of free report on your site which will be provided after a potential client adds their email address to your mailchimp or constant contact account, as a way to gather emails addressees for a future e-mail campaign.

Use the Social Media

There are several ways to make generate interest via social media. One way is to constantly appear on local users timelines. About 1.5 billion people use Facebook and a lot of real estate agents generate up to $10,000 revenue monthly by harnessing their network Facebook. You can use Facebook for your main strategy for lead generation, but then it comes with the price of connecting with others. The most effective way is to use Facebook Ads to target potential customer across the network based upon where they live or work, and if they own a home. It converts to sales faster than just building your followers from organic posts.

Instagram is another way to connect with potential buyers because pictures and videos are proven ways to generate leads faster than contents. Both strategies require time and dedication to connect, engage and provide support.

Blogging

Blogging is arguably one of the best avenue to generate leads online. But you don’t expect an old corporate blog about your company’s events to generate real estate leads. To attract prospects and convert home sales, you have to provide your readers with valuable and actionable contents. These include real estate news, tips about working with realtors, listing their home or mortgage tips. It is also very important to syndicate your blog on your social sharing sites such as Twitter, Readit, and Linkedin so that others may share your content and give your article more traction.

Video creation

Videos are great tools for lead generation for any business. Utilizing videos to give a virtual tour of a house or apartment for sale is a wise way to engage your audience. Videos convert up to 33% of the leads on the internet. Videos do not only generate leads and engage them, it also push them to get in touch with you.

If you would like to learn more about generating prospecting online, schedule a call with VRG Web Design today.