A blog about ecommerce marketing, running an online business and updates to Shopify's ecommerce community.

Marty Note
We agree with all 7 of these "product page best practices" such as:

1. Powerful product descriptions (tell a short story and use language from reviews). 

2. Clear Call-To-Action (CTAs).

3. Size Chart (we love the Johnny Cupcakes graphic).

3. Include Stock Levels (and use Amazon's only 4 left language).

4. Great Product shots.

5. Social Share buttons (with feedback loops for # of shares, look at SumoMe.com for the best social share widget).

6. Shipping & Free Shipping info clear and easy to find.

7. Relevant to what is happening now (Holiday theme).

8. Remove background (this one was new to us, but we get it).

& The forgot 2 of our favorites:

9. Reviews - voice of the customer is the most convincing and begins to create online community.

10. TEST - we've only beaten a red "Add To Cart" button once, but we only knew we beat it because we tested.

Designing Tomorrow's Ecommerce Today
Added artist Sara Havey's magical knitting gnome to the fastest "views" Haiku Deck I've ever created (300+ in 24 hours) because it is a perfect example of the New Ecommerce's crowdsourcing and DIY future.

The deck is divided into three sections:
* Current Ecommerce Best Practices.
* Rise of the Social / Mobile Web & Social Shopping.
* Crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing and DIY.

Is it possible to create tomorrow's ecommerce website TODAY? Is Sara's gnome knitting? You bet!

Ecom's New  Best Practices
Better have all of these if you expect to make money online these days:
* Easy To Get Free Shipping.
* Easy To Find Sale Section.
* Deal of the Day (once Woot.com only now becoming ubiquitous).
* What's New.
* Best Sellers.
* For Him, Her, Kids navigation (if applies).
* An ASK for User Generated Content.
* Clear "WE VALUE UGC" signals.
* Exciting "Magazine-like" content.

Via Tomorrow's Ecommerce: How To Design Tomorrow's Ecommerce Today on Haiku Deck http://shar.es/1nkirc

From tweets to posts and even likes, this webinar covers the basics of social media marketing. Learn how your peers are leveraging social media in their practices and hear what works - and what doesn't.

Marty Note

Received an email I can't show you other than the graphic from CIO White Papers that points to  some easy things to change to make your email marketing more effective.

The link on this post goes to the "landing page" presented after clicking on the Call To Action (Click Here To Read This Report Now) button on the email.

The landing page is confusing. I couldn't figure out how to either share my information or get the report and who has the time to figure out YOUR landing page? A: No One!

Tip #1: Make your FORM easy to fill out and only ask for things you REALLY need (name, email).

I can't share the email because there is no social share widgets and there isn't a "Can't see this email, see it on the web" option. Always include social share widgets above the fold and include a server based email URL since that is what most publishers will share.

Tip #2: Always include a server URL and social share widgets.

I love the size of the Call-to-Action (CTA), but blue copy on orange wouldn't be my first choice since it makes the button hard to read.

Tip #3: Big CTAs with clearly contrasting colors.

The email, the one I can't show you because there is no URL, goes on and on and on. Never do that. Never share more than a single idea in an email. No one reads your emails the way you do. People have LIVES and when you put 8 things in an email with a long scroll you look out of touch with real people. Not a good thing.

Tip #4: Never market more than one thing in an email.

The subject line lives within my 7 word rule "

Saavy Social Media: From Facebook to Twitter

Not a bad subject line except for the spelling. Ouch! Little things undercut credibility. Little things like a site called CIO White Papers misspelling savvy.

Tip #5: Check Your Spelling before you mail 50,000 people.

Netflix data shows "binge watching" is up. How do we create content marketing to encourage a binge?

Creating Binge Worthy Content for Ecommerce sites helps master the New SEO, but the process is different than for B2B because:

* B2C ecom content needs more UGC (User Generated Content).
* Ecom content needs to tell great stories fast so VIDEO.

* UGC needs engagement support so gamification.

* Tribal key for ecommerce, so needs to be highly social.

* Don't like to pull attention away from HERO, so selectively visual.

* Need to curate more "binge worthy content" from UGC and social. 

That last bullet demonstrates the core difference. B2C ecommerce is an act of curation as much as creation. Customers trust each other often MORE than the websites they visit. The more UGC an ecom website has the richer it is.

UGC can take many forms on an ecommerce site such as:

* Reviews. 
* Profiles (MyAccount). 
* Comments. 
* Response to contests and games. 
* Review the reviewer (was this review helpful?). 
* Social shares.
* Blog or social commentary (use only with permission as you will have to rake into your website with an Online Reputation Management tool). 

Stories and content are no less important to an ecommerce website, but there are distinct difference in the type of content that will help and not hurt conversions.