Google Analytics is a powerful tool that you should be using in your marketing mix. It allows you to view a magnitude of data from your website that you can use to assist in making educated marketing decisions. There are so many options with Google Analytics that it can sometimes be overwhelming on where to start and what features are the most applicable to your business. Listed below are some of the features that we find the most helpful for any e-commerce business.
We have previously covered Google Analytics. If you need a general overview of the application, you can see it here.
Behavioral Flow:
This section can be somewhat intimidating if you are unsure what to look for. By using the behavioral flow feature on Google Analytics, you will be able to track your user’s step-by-step experience navigating your website. It allows you to see what pages they clicked on, if they backtracked, and where you might have lost them along the way. Using data from this section can help optimize the journey for your users and guide them to making a purchase.
A behavioral flows feature that I find specifically beneficial, is that it shows you the page that visitors started on. This can help you better understand where the traffic from your site is coming from. Whether that is from a marketing campaign, social media advertisements, or users clicking onto the homepage from Google.
Audience Reports
The audience reports gives you an insight into the users that are traveling to your website. It provides you with multiple variables that you can click on ranging from demographics, interests, and even the operating system they are running when visiting your site. Knowing this information about your traffic can help you make more direct connections with them and how you choose to represent your company.
There are many avenues in this section, but I think that one of the most interesting is the Behavior section. These reports provide a gold-mine for understanding how your audience is interacting with your website. It provides how recently they visited, the frequency of the users, the time they spent on the sight, the number of sessions, and multiple other things.
Custom Reports:
Do you consider yourself a Google Analytics pro? After using the software for a while it could be time to step your game up and try custom reports.
Using this feature of Google Analytics allows you to view your data exactly how you want to. To create your own custom reports in Google Analytics you just need to scroll down on the right side. It will provide you with multiple variables that you can customize to see the exact data that you want. Because of this it will help you save time by producing more efficient reports and provide you with the exact data that you’re looking for.
Additional:
If you are still trying to gain more Google Analytics experience, I suggest checking out the training certifications that Google offers. There are six different courses that cover a wide range of topics. The certifications combine watching short videos with step-by-step tutorials to help you gain the most out of each course. Upon completion of these courses you will be able to set up more complicated configurations, more complex data analysis, and more marketing tools to help grow your business. You can find an overview of the certifications here.
Takeaways
We hope this article showed you just the beginning of Google Analytic’s power. Utilizing these new features on Google Analytics will help you capture the full benefits and maximize your use of the application. If you need any assistance Google Analytics, feel free to reach out to our team.
This week we’re switching it up with a Tempeh Burrito Bowl that’s totally homemade and totally delicious. Feel free to customize this as you please with different vegetables or meat substitutes.
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 20 mins Total Time: 35 mins
Ingredients
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
1 sweet potato (about 1 lb.)
1 Tbsp cooking oil
Seasoned Tempeh*
8 oz. tempeh
1 cup water
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
freshly cracked pepper
Bowl Ingredients
4 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 jalapeño
1 avocado
1/4 cup sour cream
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Peel and dice the sweet potato into 1/2-inch cubes. Spread the cubes out onto a baking sheet, drizzle with oil, then toss to coat. Season with a pinch of salt.
Roast the sweet potatoes in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, stirring half way through. Once roasted, set aside.
While the sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare the seasoned tempeh. Crumble the brick of tempeh into a skillet. Add the water, oil, tomato paste, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir briefly to combine.
Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat on to medium. Allow the skillet to come up to a simmer. Let the tempeh simmer, stirring every few minutes, for about 10 minutes total, or until the liquid reduces to a thick sauce.
While the tempeh is simmering, slice the avocado and jalapeño.
To build the bowls, place 1 cup cooked rice in the bottom of each bowl. Divide the seasoned tempeh, roasted sweet potatoes, corn, and avocado between all four bowls. Top each bowl with 1 to 2 tablespoons of salsa, 1 tablespoon of sour cream, and a few slices of jalapeño. Eat immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 days.
For pictures and more information check out the original recipe at BUDGETBYTES
Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos are a fast and easy way to take Taco Tuesday to the next level and is the perfect fast and easy weeknight meal.
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 20 mins Total Time: 35 mins
Ingredients
Taco Seasoning
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly cracked pepper
Tacos
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 lb lean ground beef (93% lean or higher)*
15 oz can black beans
1 box 10 hard taco shells
1 cup shredded cheddar (4oz.)
Optional Toppings
1 tomato
1 jalapeño
Handful fresh cilantro
1/4 cup sour cream
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the taco seasoning, then set the seasoning aside (or use one envelope of store-bought taco seasoning). Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and cooking oil to a large skillet. Sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the ground beef and prepared taco seasoning and continue to sauté until the beef is cooked through (another 5 minutes).
Arrange the taco shells in a casserole dish so they are all standing upright. If you do not have a dish that fits them snuggly enough to hold them up, use balled up aluminum foil to act as “book ends” to help hold the line of tacos upright.
Drain the can of black beans well, but do not rinse them. A little sauciness helps keep the beef mixture moist.Stir the beans into the seasoned beef and allow them to heat through.
Fill the tacos with the beef and bean mixture. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over top. Bake the tacos in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the taco shells are golden brown on the edges.
While the tacos are baking, dice the tomato, slice the jalapeño, and roughly chop the cilantro leaves. Sprinkle the diced tomato, jalapeño, and cilantro over the tacos, and add a dollop of sour cream just before serving.
NOTES
*If using a higher fat beef, brown the beef without the taco seasoning first, then drain the excess fat. After draining, add the taco seasoning and sauté for about one minute more before moving onto the next step.
Product descriptions are an important aspect of an e-commerce business. Unfortunately, they often get overlooked or underutilized. It is easy to fill this area with unappealing information, or just to copy the factory specifications from your supplier. This should be avoided at all costs. Although it may take some time, we advocate having strongly written product descriptions which can help to increase sales and revenue for your company.
A product description is used to show a products value to a potential customer on your website. If done well, it will provide features and benefits of the product which will influence a potential customer to purchase. A product description should include a description on how it can fix a customers problem. Many times customers go shopping to find a solution to a problem, this is a perfect area to highlight why your product is the best for them.
Below are some of the tips that we have created to help you get the most out of your product descriptions:
Tips:
Write Your Product Descriptions:
Sounds easy right? Many e-commerce retailers tend to copy the description and facts that are provided by the manufacturer. Some of these facts and features will be relevant, but not all of them. Make sure to take some time to develop and write at least part of your product descriptions, it will help you stand out to your consumer.
Tell a Story:
This doesn’t have to be an elaborate fairy tail, but writing a story about the product can help sell it to the customer. You could use storytelling aspects to talk about the product’s history, or highlighting how it could help solve a specific problem.
Write For Your Target Audience:
This is one of the most crucial aspects to consider when writing product descriptions. Would you use the same language when selling a television on craigslist as you would selling it to your mother? Probably not. When writing these descriptions it is important to use phrases and words that are relevant to your target audience and their uses.
Test Descriptions:
You won’t be able to make every description perfect when you first write it. You will have to test different variations to see what works best for your website. If you notice low conversion on a product, consider adjusting the description in slight increments and measuring the results.
Details:
Make sure to include all of the details that are applicable to the customers shopping on your website. If you notice an influx of emails asking about certain product features, include those on the description. Some consumers want more details, while others want only a small amount of information.
Easy To Read:
I know that we’ve given you a number of tips so far, but don’t let your descriptions get overly complicated. Make sure that they will be easy to read and comprehend for the users visiting your website. Have others read your finalized description to see if they can identify the main selling points.
Wrapping Up
Product descriptions are an important part of your website, and shouldn’t get brushed under the table. It will take some time and creativity to understand what aspects are important to include in your descriptions. If you need any help, feel free to reach out to our team.
Consumers are becoming more alert and aware of what you send to their inbox. They are sick of spam email! Sending creative and strategic emails can ensure that your emails stand out among the thousands of emails received by your busy consumer daily. Creating captivating emails gives the consumer the incentive to open that email rather than continuing to scroll by. Sending effective emails will help increase traffic and sales to your website.
Who is this for: This article is for online businesses that are looking to increase sales and visits to their website from automated emails. This could be used by business owners, marketing directors, marketing agencies, and more. This article will help you understand why these emails are important and provide helpful tips to get started. It will also allow you to make adjustments to existing email templates to help you get the most out of every email.
In order for new email campaigns to work you should have an established website with products or services that are available to customers.
Listed below are six of the crucial emails that will increase your email efficiency when sending them to customers. Under every email there will be examples and tips to help you get the most out of each email template. If you want additional examples, you can sign up for our templates here.
Welcome Email:
A welcome email has become a standard across online marketplaces. Shortly after signing up for an account, a websites newsletter, or making a purchase, the customer will receive an email thanking the customer and telling them more about their brand or service. Normally this will be the first official form of contact that a business will have with a prospective customer.
It is important to note that this email will set the tone and expectations for other emails you send in the future. This in return will help to influence the consumer to open future emails from you. What makes a great welcome email? Here’s what we think:
Promptness
Include a brief and appealing overview of your business
Be Gentle on selling products
Include brand imagery
Track open rates to see what is working and what is not
Offer opt-in rewards for signing up, such as a first order discount
Add social media information in the email
Welcome Email Example:
Listed below are a few examples of welcome emails. The first email is from Vermont Smoke & Cure. This email uses a pun to engage and make consumers see their sense of humor. The email has a nice photo highlighting the examples of the product that the company sells. It also shows how consumers can use the product, pairing meat with hummus and vegetables. Provided in this first email is a coupon code that can be applied for 10% off their first order, to incentivize a product purchase.
The next email is from Hulu, a movie and television streaming service. This email thanks the user for signing up and welcomes them to the service. It provides a concise overview of the service and then has photos to engage the consumer. Hulu also added a silly catch phrase at the bottom “Get your TV on” to encourage the customer to start using the service right away.
The welcome email sent by Uber, a transportation network company, is one of my favorites. It thanks the consumer and provides a short description of the service. It also includes a photo of the application, to give the customer an idea of what it looks like. A link is also provided so consumers can download and start to use the application immediately.
Abandoned Cart/Browse Abandonment:
No company benefits when a customer adds a product to their shopping cart, but doesn’t follow up with the purchase. The good thing is, it shows that the customer expressed interest in that product. Abandoned cart emails recapture the consumer’s interest and will hopefully create a sale. Some companies will send these emails a few hours after not purchasing, while others will wait a few days. The ideal timing of abandoned cart emails depends on each company and the way that your customers engage with your emails. Below are tips and tricks to send successful abandoned cart emails.
Emphasizes “low quantities in stock”
Includes multiple photos of the product
Provides a link to access the abandoned cart
Gives contact information to answer any questions or doubts the consumer might have
Insert catchy phrases to pull the customer back into the process
Abandoned Cart Email Example:
Above is a simple yet effective email sent from AirBnB, a peer to peer marketplace where you can rent out houses and apartments. From previous searches on the website they were able to see what location/time frame the consumer was looking at. It is a friendly reminder to continue planning their trip and to influence the consumer to book through AirBnB. Abandoned cart emails are great because you can quickly adjust the elements to reflect the searches and experiences that other customers are searching.
This next email is from an e-commerce general store. The emails starts off with their logo, and immediately tells the customers that they left something in their cart. A photo of the forgotten photo is pictured to remind the customer of the exact. Paired with reviews of the product to help influence the customer and to show them the positive experience of others.
Order Confirmation:
This is another standard that consumers are now expecting from ecommerce websites. Once an order is placed, it is important to quickly process the initial request and confirm the order to the customer. In this email you can describe the next steps in the order process and ways for the customer to track the progress of the shipment. Many companies will send an additional email once the item has been successfully shipped.
Order confirmation emails provide an opportunity for extra brand promotion. You could highlight similar products, or other services provided by your company. Here are a few tips to help you send order confirmation emails to customers.
Send them shortly after you receive the order
Thank the customer for placing the order
Give them ways to track the shipping/process
Include the order number
Provide a photo of the product they have ordered
Include opportunities for consumers to continue shopping
Order Confirmation Email Example:
This is an email that confirmed the purchase of concert tickets, making sure they display the appropriate artist and date. It added the order number and ways to reach out if there were any issues. It gave the customer all the information they needed and was easy to comprehend.
This receipt from Google is for the rental of a movie. It is similar to a traditional receipt that you would see in a storefront. But it still covers some of the important aspects we covered above. It thanks the customer and provides a description of the rental along with the total cost. Proving that your emails don’t have to be too fancy to be effective! Receiving an email receipt from an online purchase helps the customer keep track of their purchase for their records.
Post Purchase Follow Ups:
Following up with customers shortly after they have purchased a product is an important way to receive feedback on a product/service. You can provide features such as a place to put reviews, to help you sell products. In these emails it can be beneficial to highlight other products that are associated with the product(s) they purchased. Many follow up emails also have a link to direct the consumer back to the company’s main website. Below are tips to help you gain the most out of post purchase follow ups.
Send 3-5 days after the customer receives the product
Thank the customer for their purchase
Ask them to leave a review of the product
Provide a link to leave the review
Add related products to the email
Post Purchase Examples
Skylynx, a transportation service from Vancouver B.C. to Whistler B.C., sent a follow up email after I had traveled with them. It first thanked me for using their service, and asked me to leave a review of my experience. They didn’t provide any specific link, but they did provide examples of websites I could use to leave a review. It was sent about two hours after I had traveled with them, so they could receive immediate feedback on the experience.
This email was sent shortly after I received a new pair of reflective sunglasses. The company wanted to make sure that I was satisfied with the product, and provided the appropriate contact information for sending questions/complaints. Later in the email they asked for a review and provided the medium of which they would like it written. It was a short but sweet email to help make sure that I was happy with the product.
Educational Content:
These emails offers additional value for your customers while also increasing the feeling of commitment and care to the customer. It expresses your interested about their business and life and aren’t just using them to make some quick cash. The beauty of educational content is that it doesn’t need to follow any rules. It can be anything that you would consider beneficial for your customers and help your customers gain the most they can out of your brand.
You can write articles about multiple use products, show tests on products, best practices, or write a funny write up of how your company started. Educational content can take many mediums including film and writing. Here are some tips and tricks to sending out educational content emails.
Send these emails on a regular basis, one or twice a month
Include information not obvious to the consumer
Providing value to a diverse group of customers
Include photos for products
Have others in the office create content for these emails
We send out our own educational content emails bi-weekly. We call it Taco Tuesday and it’s filled with helpful marketing information. If you are interested in signing up, you can do so here. Below is an example of a Taco Tuesday we sent our a few weeks ago. We include blog posts, videos, and recipes to help add value to the emails we send. Below are two parts of an email that we sent out a few weeks ago.
If you are interested in getting our educational content, you can sign up here (insert hyperlink here).
Cross-Selling Emails:
Cross-selling emails can be a simple but effective way to persuade a customer to make additional purchases from your brand. By compiling previous purchases you can make useful recommendations for productions that complement or are compatible with their previous purchase. Below are tips to get the most out of your cross-selling emails:
Thank the customer for the previous purchase
Provide multiple additional items
Cross-sell similarly priced items
Include pictures
Add links to look at the products from the email
Make sure products are not drastically different in price
Cross-Selling Example:
This example below is from a shaving service that provides a monthly service to customers. This email sent is a reminder of what the customer was receiving, and provided additional products they could purchase. With this strategic model, a customer can add one, or multiple additional products to their cart. The more they purchase, the higher their investment in the brand becomes. This will lead to an increase in revenue for your company.
Wrapping Up:
Emails are one of the easiest ways to increase conversion and traffic to your website from customers already in your system. All six of these emails have provided new options for you to follow up with the customer and keep them coming back to your business. Many of these emails can be automated, which will help you save time and ensure these emails are sent exactly when you want them to be. You can gain our email templates here (insert hyperlink) to start sending emails to customers right away.
