Monday, January 20, 2014

Marketing Trends and Insights for 2014 from Ecommerce Experts

A couple of months past, we tend to interviewed a couple of ecommerce web development specialists regarding the longer term of selling, a number of the challenges SMBs would possibly face, and the way marketers may use spoken in their methods.

We were delighted to feature the subsequent four ecommerce experts:


  • Linda Bustos from Get Elastic
  • Joe Pulizzi from Content selling Institute
  • Graham Charlton from Econsultancy, and
  • Matt Winn from Volusion

Now, we've got summarized and compiled the essence of their answers into bite-sized chunks for you to munch on. Bon appétit!

What area unit your thoughts on the numerous sweeping changes within the digital world? (Google algorithms, Facebook custom audiences, Twitter ads, etc?) however has the role of online/ecommerce selling evolved in light-weight of them?

Linda: In on-line selling, the sole constant is amendment. Mobile is dynamical everything regarding on-line selling. Ecommerce development company leaders can ought to keep with these changes (and others) to survive and keep ahead.

Joe: Brands that develop and distribute surprisingly useful and amusive content on a daily basis win when, therefore concentrate on developing a content selling strategy and remodel the organization into additional of a business entity!

Graham: whole marketers that focus on making an attempt to deliver price and an excellent client expertise ought to be well-placed to alter the present changes within the world of ecommerce development.

Matt: Google is progressing to offer users with solely the most effective content obtainable, therefore concentrate on selling smart content to remain relevant and retain traffic.

Due to the sheer quantity of selling channels obtainable, marketers ought to select which of them to concentrate on and keep track of. This conjointly raises the necessity for AN integrated stigmatization strategy.

What challenges does one assume SMBs would possibly face with selling in 2014? What will they are doing to beat them?

Linda: the best challenge of on-line selling is to develop an entire understanding of shoppers and their behavior. the longer term can belong to businesses that area unit able to build progress on this front, and obtaining additional price out of their selling efforts with those insights.

Joe: Developing relevant content to our totally different teams of audiences is unbelievably tough. Here’s my advice:


  • Fill a requirement for your client base and serve that require with content.
  • Do it systematically – be the must-see TV for your customers.
  • Create content such as you area unit a person's being.
  • Don’t be vanilla. Take a stance together with your content.
  • Remove the sale from your content. The additional you take away the pitch, the additional your content are going to be shared.

Graham: As AN SMB, you'll be able to experiment additional simply, be additional personal, and additional agile in your marketing; therefore use this to your advantage!

Matt: Managing multiple selling channels may be terribly difficult, particularly for SMB homeowners. rather than making an attempt to handle everything, it’s additional helpful to pay a while prioritising your selling strategy, focusing solely on the necessities and therefore the most impactful ones.

84% of shoppers say they trust spoken the foremost. Any thoughts on however marketers may profit of word-of-mouth?

Linda: Use “Micro Word-of-Mouth”: Collect very little items of spoken that happens organically, and integrate them into your product pages, selling collateral, everything.

Joe: a way to build relationships online: produce AN influencer listing > Share their content > Build AN audience > produce content!

Graham: concentrate on providing an excellent client expertise, and smart reviews can return. once you do have smart reviews, make certain to use them in your selling collateral (e.g. your websites, in campaigns), and build it straightforward for purchasers to share their views, etc.

Matt: spoken is unquestionably an honest thanks to gain new customers. SMB homeowners will apply spoken by providing a wonderful on-line and offline client expertise, in order that customers can feel special, and be inspired to share that with their networks.

Finally, WHO does one assume can win: Google or Facebook? Why?

Linda: Facebook desires to induce into search, and Google desires to thrive in social. They each area unit eons prior to one another in their core strengths and neither can catch up to the opposite.

I do believe Facebook contains a higher probability of losing connectedness the long run — the additional advertising Facebook adds, the less fun the area are going to be, a couple of privacy SNAFUs and Facebook may go the method of MySpace, however Google Search contains a abundant stronger position within the search area, it’s not going anyplace.

Joe: That’s straightforward.  Google. they're thinking therefore massive it’s not even funny.

In the future, our web are going to be provided by Google, that we tend to access on our Google device, and that we ride around in our Google automotive or transportation device. the massive technology bets they're creating is ridiculous.

Graham: attention-grabbing question. i believe you’d be foolish to bet against Google. it's therefore well established in search and on-line advertising alone, with a awfully profitable ad business, that it'd take a catastrophe to topple it anytime before long. it's conjointly heterogeneous in several alternative areas.

Matt: I’d ought to say that Google are going to be lots additional relevant than Facebook within the future, primarily as a result of it's such an enormous a part of everyone’s daily lives. From their wildly standard program to their possession of YouTube and their continued  charge to product innovation (like Google Glass), Google is morphing itself from simply {an on-line|a web|an internet} info supplier to a complete technical school company which will impact USA each online and off. thanks to this (and the actual fact that social users tend to be fickle and continuously able to hop on subsequent massive thing), i believe that ten years from currently, Google are going to be during a far better market position than Facebook.