Ecommerce Mastermind

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 53

E-Commerce

Mastermind

Start & Scale Your Online Store

With Step By Step Ecommerce Blueprint

Copyright 2021 Ecommerce Powered By


Avoline Co. Marketing avoline.
introduction.

These blueprints are from multiple courses and trainings that were created and presented
by individuals who run and operate multiple multi-million dollar e-commerce stores.

Step by step blueprint for ecommerce growth.

It isn‘t just a curation from the best marketers in the world... We operate a $5m per year
e-commerce store, in addition to consulting and coaching for other businesses in other
industries.

These courses currently cost between $500 and $1500. The video content in the courses
span over 5-10 hours long.

We‘ve created thewse blueprints so you can start and scale your online store using the
shared methods... without paying the high price, and without listening hours worth of
content.

Who this is for:


» Digital Marketers working with and in eCommerce businesses Consultants, freelancers,
project managers
» Ecommerce store owners or operators
» Ecommerce entrepreneurs
» Brick and mortar store owners looking to go online Agencies supporting e-commerce
businesses
» Marketing geeks (because we want to know everything!)

The principles and practices can be used across other online businesses too.

@avoline.co www.avoline.co 2021


End Goal.

Empowering you with a clear action plan you can use to easily create and implement an
e-commerce marketing strategy to start and scale an online store.

Tips for success:


The more aspects of the strategy that you implement, the better your chance of growing!

Test, test, test! Every audience and product is different. These are best practices, but you
should always test and optimize for your own business.

Read the strategy through once, then go back and use it as an action plan and checklist to
start implementing changes into your store

Key areas of focus:


1. The e-commerce market
2. The E-commerce growth levers Pages 3-5
3. Store set up for sales Pages 6-7
4. Branding for sales Pages 8-16
5. Content assets for driving sales Pages 17-18
6. Optimising your store conversions Pages 19-25
7. Email automations for sales Pages 26-41
8. Content amplification for sales Pages 42-54
9. Final Thoughts Pages 55-60
Pages 61-62
Enjoy!

@avoline.co www.avoline.co 2021


The Ecommerce Market
Let‘s get some quick context on the size of the opportunity right now... Commerce has been
alive and well for thousands of years.

The difference is that we can now sell to worldwide markets.

Market Size
It’s big! It was always big and its getting even bigger.

Here are the forecasted growth rates:


» $7.38 trillion dollars sales... up from $4.92 trillion in 2021
» 24.5% of transactions are happening online up from 19.6%
» That trend is going to continue now more than ever.
The US ecommerce market size in 2021 is forecast at $843.15 billion.

The growth is a worldwide trend. You can sell to anybody! Anywhere.


And it’s only going to get easier to do so.

If you think you’d be late to the game in getting into e-commerce, it’s barely started yet.

The growth curve is about to get exponentially steeper.

If you create an online store, you will grow as the market grows if you market it well.

@avoline.co www.avoline.co 2021


Why ecommerce is growing?

Social Media:
Connected world. Sharing products. Promoting products!

Mobile:
More consumption. More shopping!

On-demand generation:
We want it now! Convenience! Same day delivery!

Niche products:
The products that aren’t in your local stores can still be accessed!

Big Spenders Type 1:


Baby boomers, Gen X & Y:Now tech-savvy and trust online transactions

Big Spenders Type 2:


Millennials Tech-savvy and now have money to spend

Worldwide lockdowns:
Because shit‘s going down so we can online shop inside
The effect of mobile

Mobile use by far outweighs desktop use. We are constantly connected to our mobile
devices (in case you didn’t notice).

How this affects online shopping...

» 2/3 of customers in the U.S. use two devices during shopping process
» 1/3 of people who see a mobile ad on Facebook actually make a purchase on desktop
» 60% of people in the USA have more than one device
» 50% of people are on their second device while they are watching
» TV Mobile ecosystem is segmented. On average we each consume 200 media channels
» Facebook and Instagram has the most mobile users on their platforms ... 10x more than
other channels combined.

What this all means?

These trends shape the Mobile EcoSystem as we see it today. How people are behaving and
consuming.

How tech is developing etc...

Online stores are built and grown in line with those trends in order to be successful.

Let‘s look at how...


Ecommerce Growth Engine

Core Elements
These are the key growth levers for an successful store...

Traffic
Ads
Content Social Media Email
SEO Retargeting

Site Pages
Checkout pages
Product pages
Home pages
Landing pages/sales pages Collection pages
Opt-in pages

Pre Purchase Campaigns


Lead generation & Opt-ins Promotions
Offers
Presell pages
Activation email campaigns
Ecommerce Growth Engine

Traffic Each of these campaigns are happening


simultaneously. Dynamically connected
Cart abandonment campaigns
and linked together to create an automated
Upsells & Cross sells growth engine.

e
Traffic goes to various offers and site
Site Pages pages... promotions are amplified through
Upsells content creation which then generates
Cross sells traffic... which in turn triggers an email
sequence etc.
Promotions
Reviews/Testimonials Each campaign is designed to make money!
Referrals If set up well, it’s hugely profitable.
Support
Offers
Content
Win back campaigns

Pre Purchase Campaigns


Videos
Images
Podcasts

@avoline.co www.avoline.co 2021


Store Set Up: The Tech Stack

Let’s talk about the tech stack you need to put in place to position you for growth.

Your Site & Platform


Choosing the right platform is a huge factor in positioning you for success and efficiency.
So choose the right one!

Your platform will include:


» Content Management
» Search
» Shopping Cart
» Product Management
» Pricing
» Order Management
» Payment Systems
» Inventory Management - connect to your fulfilment
» Business Logic - notifications, shipping notifications etc
» Integrations - 3rd party apps etc

Lot‘s of choices, including:


» Shopify
» Woocommerce
» Magento
» Ecwid
» BigCommerce
Store Set Up: The Tech Stack

Email Service Provider (ESP)

Your options:
» Klaviyo
» Active Campaign
» Constant Contact
» Get Response
» Mailchimp
» Infusion soft
» Aweber

The features you should have:


» Contact Tagging
» A/B testing
» Smart automations
» Template editors
» Phone support
» Store integrations
» Help desk and live chat integrations
» Smart sending options

Helpdesk
You’re in retail! You need a help desk to speak to all your happy customers ;)

Your main options:


» Zen Desk
» Help Scout
Store Set Up: The Tech Stack

Live Chat

Your options:
» Intercom.io
» Facebook
» Olark
» LiveChat
» Bold Chat
» Live Person
» Website Alive
» Hip Chat

Video Hosting
You’ll need to create videos for your website and for your marketing at multiple stages
within your funnel and customer buying journey, so you’ll need to add video hosting to your
tech stack.

Your options:
» Youtube
» Wistia
» Vimeo
Store Set Up: The Tech Stack

Analytics & Reporting

It’s essential you can see how users are behaving in your store.
You need to know:
» How long people stay on your site Which pages they visit
» Which pages they exit
» What are your conversion rates Etc. etc.

Google Analytics
Main and best solution is Google Analytics. Free and advanced.

Here’s what you must do with your Google Analytics...

Set up enhanced ecommerce tracking:


This will allow you to see how much revenue you are making. Your average order value.
Your conversion rates. Products purchased etc This can be done with a one-click set up to
connect with Shopify.

Set up goals and funnels:


Find out how people progress through your store. See the flow from homepage, to product
pages, checkout pages, and highlight where you are losing people in that process before
optimising the pages for increased conversions.

This is essential to set up as the key to ecommerce success is to ensure you can take the
customer all the way through the store flow to the end purchase!
Store Set Up: The Tech Stack

Track website searches


Find out what people are searching for on your site. If they are searching for a particular
product, this can shape which new products you can sell to meet search demand etc.

It will also show you how valuable the customers are who search, by giving you the revenue
details and order value for each search.

The data will highlight the most valuable search terms that you should be optimising for by
building content and products around them.

Use UTM codes for all links


You need to know where your customers are coming from. For all of your links that point
to your website, you should use the links so that you can learn the value of each link and
campaign.

The UTM data will tell you where a customer came from, how much they spent, what they
purchased etc. i.e. Facebook traffic converts more than instagram and email etc etc. Use for
all external links and campaigns.

Setting up your analytics effectively is an essential component to your store as it enables


you to make data driven decisions to position you to optimise for sales and growth.
Creation of Kick-ass Brand

This aspect of the business is what makes your store work or not.
You have to have these 3 things to form your mission, story and purpose, if you are going to
succeed.

1) Your USP (unique selling point)


2) Who you are
3) What‘s your brands story

And... In the current ecommerce ecosystem...

You need a face on your ecommerce store!

People buy from people. They want to engage, relate, and connect with a person and their
story! Remember, we live in a social economy!
If you aren‘t the face of the brand, try to find an influencer or personality.
You will still make sales without, but the impact of having a face can result in real scale.

You‘ll use your mission story and purpose across your content and marketing assets that
we‘ll cover below.
Creation of Kick-ass Brand

Show it to them
It’s all about how you come across to your customers.

Things that help include:


1) Knowing what asthetic your target market likes
2) Having a tagline that tells your story in one sentence
3) Creating an emotional response when customers see your brand

This helps create the messaging and marketing around your brand.

So... Create your brand, the mission, the story, and purpose, and get clear about it... even
before you start any marketing activities.

This will help you shape how you communicate with your customers.
The better you communicate with your market, the better your sales conversions and
growth will be.

'How to create a brand‘ wasn‘t covered in the courses and masterclasses we attended other
than the info above... but we have your back...

If you want to access our branding framework and questionnaires to use as a guide to
creating your brand, check it out in the Growth Portal within the Growth Strategy.
Content Creation

The heart of your store includes the following main pages:


Homepage
Store/Catalogue Page
Product Page
Cart / Checkout
Thank You Page
Blog
More Info

With the above in mind, you need to think of what content assets you need for each page in
your store in order to communicate with customers and make as many sales as possible at
each stage.

This is what you need:


Product descriptions,
images, videos
More information pages
Why buy from us video
Hello from the owner video
Post opt-in thank you video
Post purchase thank you video
Home page intro content / sales content Tag line
FAQ content

Having this content in place and at the right place will maximise your conversions. And... not only
do you have each asset on the relevant page, but you should also use the same asset in multiple
places within your marketing campaigns such as your email marketing, social media, ads etc.
Best Practices

Product Descriptions
Let‘s look at the best practices when generating the content, begining with the product
descriptions.

Arguably the most important content you’ll create. This is where people are on the cusp of
buying. You need to give them a final boost by including:

Features AND benefits


How is the customer going to benefit from owning the product?

Use mini stories


Share stories of how they’ll feel and what they’ll experience when they have the product

Create scannable descriptions


People don’t always read, so use headlines, bullets, etc to make the info easy to digest

Talk to your target audience


Use words and terms they understand. Speak their language. Relate.

Social proof
Testimonials, reviews, case studies etc.

Overcome objections
People don’t buy because of fear of loss. Overcome these fears. Give guarantees

Include USP’s
What is your unique offer? Why are you different?
Best Practices

Product Images
Hugely important! This is what people consume before they buy!

Things to note:
» Use as many as possible. The more the better
» Show the product in use
» Show ownership benefit and experience
» Ensure you have high quality images for best conversions

Product Sales Videos


Best way to communicate the value of your products. You MUST have sales videos for your
main products and best selling products.

Things to note:
» Videos can be a slide presentation or just face to camera, or mix of both Don’t need to
spend money on high quality production
» You can use an iPhone or a simple powerpoint
» Keynote Screenflow, Camtasia etc
» Hiring a professional might be better if you can make it work
» But always test variations... Quick and easy can beat over produced!
» Ensure you have high quality images for best conversions

Why to use video on your core content pages:


» 64% of all internet traffic globally is video consumption
» On average products with video enjoy 88% more time spent on page
» 1/3 millennials purchase a product as a result of a product video
» 50% of users who watch videos on mobile use it to decide on purchases
Best Practices
The Best Product Videos Should:
» Show The Product In Use
» Displays Ownership Benefits
» Tell A Good Story
» Includes Social Proof
» Overcomes Objections
» Has Strong Call To Action

If you can meet these elements you’ll create high quality videos for your brand that will have
significant results in sales for your online store.

Information Pages
15%-25% of buyers will visit the more information pages before they purchase. Those
people that go to these pages are considered warmer leads and more likely to complete the
checkout.

These pages don’t hard sell. But they support the selling process and are very important.
These are the pages where customers can get more information, and where you should
produce content for:

Where to use video on your core content pages:


About Us
Contact Us
Why Buy From Us
Shipping Information
Return Policy
Privacy Policy
Faq
Terms And Conditions
Best Practices

Product Images
Hugely important! This is what people consume before they buy!

Things to note:
» Use as many as possible. The more the better
» Show the product in use
» Show ownership benefit and experience
» Ensure you have high quality images for best conversions

Product Sales Videos


Best way to communicate the value of your products. You MUST have sales videos for your
main products and best selling products.

Things to note:
» Videos can be a slide presentation or just face to camera, or mix of both Don’t need to
spend money on high quality production
» You can use an iPhone or a simple powerpoint
» Keynote Screenflow, Camtasia etc
» Hiring a professional might be better if you can make it work
» But always test variations... Quick and easy can beat over produced!
» Ensure you have high quality images for best conversions

Why to use video on your core content pages:


» 64% of all internet traffic globally is video consumption
» On average products with video enjoy 88% more time spent on page
» 1/3 millennials purchase a product as a result of a product video
» 50% of users who watch videos on mobile use it to decide on purchases
Best Practices

Why Buy From Us - Video

Short explainer video to include:


» Why customers should buy from you What makes you different
» What is your USP
» Why you care about customers
» How you will go the extra mile Your bigger purpose

Our Story - Video


Best way to communicate the value of your products. You MUST have sales videos for your
main products and best selling products.

Key content asset to build a relationship with the customer:


» Introduce people to your brand
» Tell your story
» Why you created the brand
» Create intimacy & rapor
» Share guarantees and promises
» Thank them for visiting
Best Practices
Post Opt-in Thank You - Video

You’ll be collecting email addresses in a number of places as you attract people into your
store. As soon as they opt-in you nurture the relationship so you can convert them into
paying customers. So, the thank you page is important to get the relationship off to a good
start and get them to continue into the next action you want them to take.

Here‘s an example script:


“Hey, thanks so much for signing up and joining our community. You’re going to get some
resources, promotions and discounts in your email over the coming weeks. Like our
facebook page to join our group and join in the conversation. Thanks again, and speak
soon!”

Post Purchase Thank You - Video

Customers have given you money! They’ve committed to you. Build the relationship more so
you can send them into higher levels of the customer journey so you can create loyalty and
additional revenue.

What to include:
» Thanks for your purchase
» Here’s what to expect
» We’ll send shipping notifications
» We’ll send email newsletters and promos
» Follow us on social media
» Thank you!
Best Practices
Intro Content
Not a video this one. But this is where you‘ll allow people to learn who you are within a few
short seconds of visiting the home page.

What to include:
» Explain your brand
» What you do
» Who you are based
» Your USP
» Images

Post Purchase Thank You - Video

Customers have given you money! They’ve committed to you. Build the relationship more so
you can send them into higher levels of the customer journey so you can create loyalty and
additional revenue.

What to include:
» Thanks for your purchase
» Here’s what to expect
» We’ll send shipping notifications
» We’ll send email newsletters and promos
» Follow us on social media
» Thank you!
Best Practices
Intro Content
Not a video this one. But this is where you‘ll allow people to learn who you are within a few
short seconds of visiting the home page.

What to include:
» Explain your brand
» What you do
» Who you are based
» Your USP
» Images

Frequently Asked Questions

What to include:
» Dynamic drop downs work well and reduce page load speed
» Videos can be more engaging and powerful if possible
» At worst, you can simply display the FAQ’s as text

About Us

What to include:
» Use the ‘Why Buy From Us’ video asset
» Also repurpose into text and images
» Include bullets and headlines down the page to make it easy to read
Convertion Rate Optimization
This is where the money is made in increasing conversions. These optimization tactics are
how you go from 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% conversion rates which have a significant impact on
your revenues.

Millions of dollars are spent each month by leading ecommerce stores in order to test
various stages of the funnel in which customers flow through. From homepage, to product
page, to the cart and checkout pages, you should be obsessed with measuring how you are
taking a customer from one stage to the next.

Your website plays a huge factor in how strong your flow is, and how profitable your website
funnel is.

These are the key takeaways and best practices you should be optimising...

Optimizing Your Header


The header is the first thing that is seen by a customer. It should be the first place they get
hooked to take additional action on.

Two key must haves for your heade.

Add a big, prominent search bar to your header!


» 30% of visitors use a search bar
» If you can get somebody to search they are more likely to convert
» You’ll also get search data to drive product and marketing strategy

Use multiple headers for more content and messaging


» Navigation bar
» Search bar and shipping
» Announcement and shipping bar
Convertion Rate Optimization
Here’s where you should further optimise your header...

» Logo with link back to home page in top left hand corner
» Guarantee
» Unique selling point
» Special offer
» Tag line
» Phone number
» More information page links in first header Store navigation in second header
» Link to shopping cart in top right hand corner
» Link to live chat
» Opt-in opportunity

Don’t make the header too busy. Prioritise user experience. Always test!

Amazon Header

Reccommended: BOOM Header:

Casper Header
Convertion Rate Optimization
Optimizing Your Footer
Similarly, the footer will also be the same across your site and it’s another opportunity to soft sell
the visitor with messaging and content that will support them in their buying process.

The best practices in a footer include:


» Opt-In Call To Action
» Security Shipping & Credit Card Symbols
» 3 Part Footer Block (Social Profiles, Navigation, Contact Info)
» Floating Live Chat / Contact Widget
» Floating Shopping Cart Site Searc

Some stores also include the following elements on all pages of their site to ensure the branding
and messaging is always prominent:
» ‘Hello from us’ & ‘why buy from us’ Videos
» Testimonials / Social Proof Images / Community Images
» Ownership Benefit / Sales Headline

Other stores might only show these on the homepage. You can test which works best for you.

Optimizing Your Homepage


Ideally, you’ll have most visitors going directly to product pages from your ads and content but
30-40% of your visitors will end up on your homepage. Why?

It’s the way consumers are used to shopping. Think of Amazon and Apple etc... The homepage
becomes the hub of the store. It has the offers, the recommendations, the product promotions, the
search opportunities etc. It’s the front window.

@avoline.co www.avoline.co 2021


Convertion Rate Optimization
For smaller retailers, this means you need to make your homepage rich and engaging.

What to include:
» Main Banner
» Headline and Intro Content
» Category Image Navigation (show your categories with images)
» Featured Product Sliders (3 is the magic number)
» Product Image Navigation (show your products with images)
» Additional Content Block (blogs/brand story/about/ etc)
» 3rd Party Press (or Brand Sales Video)

There is no right or wrong way to create your homepage. You can have multiple sections. It can
be as long as you want it to be. As long as you include the above factors to make it a rich and
engaging page, the more conversions you’ll generate.

Category / Collection Pages


The main goal of these pages is to get people to engage with the products and click through to
the product pages.

Layout will differ slightly depending on whether you have a multiple or few products in a category.

‘Multiple products’ is considered to be 15+. Few products are 10 or less.


Convertion Rate Optimization
Layout for Few Products:
Social media has conditioned us to scroll now. It’s how we consume and engage. This means we
can stack products on top of each other rather than squeezing everything above the fold.

If you only have a handful of products, you can try to give people enough information to buy from
the category page along with a way to get more details if they want. It’s a preview of the product
before they click through the product page

Elements to do this:
» Regular price and sale price
» Hero shot of the product
» Product sales video if possible (key differentiator)
» Product info snippet
» CTA for more information (product detail)
» CTA for add to bag

Layout for Multiple Products:


This will look different to a store page with less products. If you have 15- 20-30+ products you
need to adapt the elements so a customer can engage with them all. That‘s why this layout is the
most common.

Elements to do this:
» Dynamic filtering is essential so you can sort your results
» Show price, sale price and star rating
» Add a featured item, bundle or deal at the top of the page.
Convertion Rate Optimization
Optimize Single Product Page
The most important pages in a store. People are interested. Now they need to be pushed over the
line to become customers.

This is where you should invest most of your time in making these pages the best they can
possibly be. This is where people purchase and where the success of your estore happens.

There are traditional product pages and more recent longer form product pages that people use.
There is no real difference in performance between the two as the elements are ultimately the
same, just designed differently. You can test both versions or go with what you like and works for
your product and brand.
Convertion Rate Optimization
If you only have a handful of products, you can try to give people enough information to buy from
the category page along with a way to get more details if they want. It’s a preview of the product
before they click through the product page

These are the elements to make a winning product page:


» Multiple high quality product images.
» Well done product description (headlines, bullets, etc.)
» Product sales video
» 3rd party pitch videos or press videos.
» Add to cart above the fold.
» USP’s in image format under the add to cart button.
» Image zoom.
» Reviews, user submitted content and Q&A Customer video reviews.
» Social proof images.
» You might also like cross sells.
» Lose the left navigation, make it a full page to keep people on the page

Try Keep the following above the fold on your product page

» Product Sales Video Product Image


» CTA (add to cart)
» Short Description
»
By adding each one of these elements into your product pages, you’ll see a jump in conversions
for each one you include. When you use them all together, you will see significant improvements in
performance and conversions.
Convertion Rate Optimization
Optimizing Shopping Cart
Get people comfortable in accessing their cart before giving you their card details. Fortunately
Shopify provides optimised shopping cart templates, but here are some more essential elements
for best conversions:

» Multiple continue to checkout buttons


» Using the isolation effect (use one color for call to action buttons)
» Progress bar. Let them know where they are in the process
» Security and guarantee symbol
» Links to all relevant info (shipping etc) to reduce bounce rates
» Product image & contents of the cart
» Shipping calculator if you charge for it
» Customer accounts
» Live chat

Optimizing Checkout Page


The final stage of getting the money! Again, Shopify has pre-built checkout pages that are
optimised for conversions. Remember, Shopify makes money when you make money so trust that
they know how to convert at checkouts.

» Congruence - keep the same branding and colors etc.


» Multiple payment options - paypal
» Single page - generally performs better!
» Coupon field
Convertion Rate Optimization
Additional Applications
You have your tech stack set up, but with focus now on optimising your site for conversions, here
are some tools and applications that you should add to your marketing stack.

Apps to use:
» Reviews Widget
» Exit-Intent
» Social Selling
» Referrals
» Coupon Pop-Up
» Landing Page Builder
» Shipping Integrator
» Cart Abandonment

Reviews Widget
It‘s all about social proof! Arguably the biggest selling tactic. You should be showing views
prominently on your store in multiple places. Their are widgets to do this for you.

» Simple Integration
» Mobile Responsive
» Customizable Styling
» Email Settings
» Rich Snippets
» Multiple Widgets
» User Generated Content
» Help Desk Integration
» Q&A Feature
Convertion Rate Optimization
Exit Intent
Email accounts for 1/3 of online sales for most online stores... So, capture users email before they
leave your site with an Exit Intent.

» An effective way to get email leads into your pre-purchase campaign


» This can generate thousands of dollars in revenue each month
» This is NOT an 'exit pop-up‘. That‘s spammy.
» Inceltivize visitors with discounts
» This generates 1/6 of monthly customers for many stores

Recommended Apps:
Optimonk

Social Selling
This is referral marketing. Incentivising your customers to refer friends by giving both of them a
special deal.

Recommended Apps:
FriendBuy or Referral Candy

Coupon Pop Up
This is like an exit intent pop up but happens when somebody lands on your site well before they
try to leave. Again, this captures email addresses where you can then sell to them. An effective
way to get email leads into your pre-purchase campaign

Recommended Apps:
Better coupon box
Convertion Rate Optimization
Cart Abandonment
70% of people that make it to the checkout page will abandon it without completing their
purchase. These customers need to enter an email automation that reminds them to complete
their purchase.

This is a huge revenue generator, and there are many applications on the market that you can use
for this including your email service provider (Klayvio, Active Campaign etc)

For specialist cart abandonment software we can use something like rejoiner.com
» An effective way to get email leads into your pre-purchase campaign
» This can generate thousands of dollars in revenue each month
» This is NOT an 'exit pop-up‘. That‘s spammy.
» Inceltivize visitors with discounts
» This generates 1/6 of monthly customers for many stores

Recommended Apps:
Your ESP or Rejoiner

Landing Pages
Use landing page builders to quickly create opt-in pages, sales pages, presell pages, social pages,
special offer and promotional pages.

These pages are additions to your core site pages and usually built for a specific purpose. And
they don’t require a designer or developer to build the pages for you. It’s as easy as drag and drop.

Recommended Apps:
ClickFunnels / Zippify / WooFunnels
Coupon Pop Up
This is like an exit intent pop up but happens when somebody lands on your site well before they
Convertion Rate Optimization
One Click Upsells
Increase your average order value (AOV) by 15-25% by adding one or more additional items to the
order in just one click, AFTER a customer purchases the initial product.

This is where you can cover your acquisition costs and massively increase revenues which means
you can spend more money on advertising.
You can have multiple upsells and downsells in your checkout funnel.

Recommended Apps:
ClickFunnels / Zippify / WooFunnels

Other Apps
The above tools are the essential apps that you need to have in your marketing stack.

Here are some others that you can potentially use:


» Bundles
» Discounting
» Shipping & Inventory
» Customizing
» Niche Specific
» And More!
Ecom Email Marketing
Email is not dead. It’s alive and well. Around 1/3 of your sales will come from your emails.

So... it’s essential you build out your email campaigns and automations that convert.

The four main types of emails that are sent:


» Trust / Relationship Builders - engage and build relationship
» Social Proof - prove why you are of value
» Content - soft sell
» Offers - promote your products

Key requirement for success: Always use smart automation!

Based on the behaviour and actions of a customer with your store, you need to
automatically move them from one list to another, or one email automation into another.

Some best practices for email sending to consider...


» Always Use Deadlines
» Good Looking Design (text emails work well too, but this e-commerce)
» Images Sell The Click
» Ask For The Sale
» Use UTM Codes

Now, here are the different email campaigns and sequences that should be set up for your
store...
Ecom Email Marketing
Pre Purchase Email Sequences
The aim of the pre-purchase email sequences are to build the relationship and trust with
the potential customer to eventually convert them into customers. You want to give them
more time to purchase and persuade them to do so.

There are multiple pre purchase sequences that you should have set up. Let‘s cover the
main types for your store:

Pre Purchase Email Sequence#1

This is a soft selling sequence with and should be triggered when a contact visits your site
and gives you their email address via:
» Header / Footer Opt-In
» Coupon Box Pop-Up
» Exit-Intent Pop Up
» Lead Generation Campaigns

Here are the best practices for structuring the sequence:


» At Least 7 Days Of Emails
» End With Strongest Offer
» Leverage Discount Ladder
» Unsubscribe from list If They Buy
» Add to the broadcast list if they don’t purchase
Ecom Email Marketing
Pre Purchase Email Sequence #1: Example:
Send this only to customers who have never been through an email automation of yours
before. This is the first contact with you.

Email 1: Day 0: Welcome to the Community


Email 2: Day 1: Social Proof
Email 3: Day 3: Product Benefit (ownership benefit)
Email 4: Day 5: Long Form Video (online pres, webinar, video sales)
Email 5: Day 6: PDF of video content (people like to read)
Email 6: Day 8: Emotional triggers (build intimacy, build the relationship)
Email 7: Day 9: Scarcity (last chance to consume long form video or PDF)
Email 8: Day 10: Discount Increase

Always use text, images, video thumbnails, and CTA buttons in your emails to be consistent
and to encourage clicks. And always try to include each of the email types above.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars can be generated from each of these emails. And, the
first and last emails can generate the same amount of revenue due to the engagement and
offers.
Ecom Email Marketing
Pre-Purchase Email Sequence #2
A second pre-purchase email sequence. This is slightly different to the previous sequence
as it only sends to those email contacts that are captured through:

» Incentivized Discount Exit


» Intent Pop Up

Again, through smart automation, you should remove contacts from other pre-purchase lists
if they have entered this sequence and only send if they have not previously entered the
automation.

Pre Purchase Email Sequence #2: Example:


Main difference is the additional emails sharing the promised discount.

Email 1: Day 0: Here’s your discount code/coupon


Email 2: Day 1: Social Proof
Email 3: Day 2: Last chance for your discount code
Email 4: Day 3: Product Benefit (ownership benefit)
Email 5: Day 5: Long Form Video (online pres, webinar, video sales)
Email 6: Day 6: PDF of video content (people like to read)
Email 7: Day 8: Emotional triggers (build intimacy, build the relationship)
Email 8: Day 9: Scarcity (last chance to consume long form video or PDF)
Email 9: Day 11: Discount Increase
Email 10: Day 12: Last Chance on Discount Increase
Email 11: Day 14: Content
Ecom Email Marketing
You can also use some of your content assets within these sequences to build the
relationship with new leads.

This sequence will get you additional revenue on top of all the other sequences and emails
you send.

Note: Open rates will decrease as contacts go further into the automation. It’s normal. The
initial email and the later offers are the emails that will generate the most revenue. The rest
shouldn’t be disregarded. They will still make revenue and they’ll still build the engagement
with your contacts.

And... you don’t have to stop at 7-10 emails. You can continue the sequence for another
week or two, as long as you are building the relationship by providing value.
Ecom Email Marketing
Post Purchase Email Sequences
This post purchase sequence is triggered as soon as their purchase is complete. You should
remove contacts from all other automations and lists.

Here is what you will send them emails about:


» Welcome & Shipping details
» Pre arrival
» Additional offers, upsells, cross-sells
» Content

Ultimately this is where you turn them into repeat customers and generate more revenue
from them.

Post Purchase Content assets:


You should create new content assets (in addition to the content assets previously covered)
to build an even stronger, more intimate connection with your new customers. Create
welcome videos. Sales videos and presentations for additional products. Product/box
openings etc etc. Make it personable and intimate.
Ecom Email Marketing
Example Post Purchase Email Sequence

Email 1: Day 0: Thank you and welcome!


Email 2: Day 1: Pre Arrival 1: A look inside our business/office/house/team
Email 3: Day 3: Pre Arrival 2: Press release or more reviews
Email 4: Day 5: Pre Arrival 3: Product benefit and excitement
Email 5: Day 7: Upsell/Cross Sell: New product reveal teaser
Email 6: Day 9: Upsell/Cross Sell: Long Form Video Product Presentation
Email 7: Day 11: Upsell/Cross Sell: PDF of video content
Email 8: Day 13: Content asset generator: Selfie Request with product
Email 9: Day 15: Upsell/Cross Sell: Scarcity to watch product presentation
Email 10: Day 17: Content asset generator: Video Testimonial Request
Email 11: Day 19: Upsell/Cross Sell: Additional Product 1 - pre sell and offer
Email 12: Day 21: Upsell/Cross Sell: Additional Product 2 - pre sell and offer
Email 13: Day 23: Upsell/Cross Sell: Additional Product 3 - pre sell and offer
Email 14: Day 25: Content asset generator: Customer Survey

Note: Only send upsells and cross sells content to people who have not previously been
sent the same content in a different automation. Smart automations!

See more about welcome and pre-arrival emails below...


Ecom Email Marketing
Initial Welcome Email things to include:
Thank you and welcome
Shipping information and delivery
What to expect from us
Follow us on social media (choose one)

Show (or remind) people:


Who you are and why you created the brand
Why you created the brand
Your story

Pre-Arrival Emails Goals should be to:


Build Excitement before they receive delivery of their purchase
Reduce Buyers Remorse
Reduce Refund Rates
Increase Review Ratio
FaceTime! Show people a face to the brand. Ideas
Open The Box Video
Press or 3rd Party Pitch Video
Social Proof, Science, Case Study
Content Related To Ownership Benefit

Again there is no limit or set rule to how much you can send in your post purchase
sequence.

The result in a solid campaign will significantly increase sales and revenue.
Ecom Email Marketing
Post Purchase Win Back Email Sequence
This is used to dynamically send emails to previous customers based on their behaviour.

A customer should receive the automation if they have placed an order, and then not placed
an additional order within 60 days.

If a customer hasn’t repurchased your product in 60 days, then it’s likely they are lost
customers.

This sequence is therefore important as a last ditch attempt to save them.

You can again generate significant amounts of profit with this dynamic automation using
discount ladders to offer more incentive than previous engagement and upsell/cross sell
sequences.

Example Post Purchase Win Back Sequence:


Email 1: After 60 days: 10% Discount Offer
Email 2: After 62 days: 10% Discount Offer Last Chance
Email 3: After 70 days: Free + Shipping Offer
Email 4: After 72 days: Free + Shipping Offer Last Chance
Email 5: After 90 days: 15% Discount Offer
Customer Service
You’ve put in the work to get all the customers. Now you need to make sure you keep them
happy! In addition to your emails, you‘ll also be communicating on your customer service
channels to drive sales.

Remember that we also live in a social media driven world where it’s very easy for people to
leave negative footprints for your business. Social word of mouth is powerful.

So... customer service is extremely important.

Goals
» Respond Within 12 Hours - Don’t keep people waiting.
» Aim for high satisfaction rates
» Respond to all negative ratings

Tips To Help
» All communication channels should open tickets.
» Facebook Messages
» Voicemails
» Chat Messages
» Review & Q/A Widgets
» Include referral widget link in all emails
» Tag tickets & chats for future marketing copy (Copywriting, FAQ’s etc)

Live Chat Tips


» Use triggered events based on behaviour to offer people help
» Give coupons and discounts to incentivise them to buy
Package Inserts
This is additional content that is delivered with your product in order to give added
experience. It is an opportunity to put your brand, your story, your philosophies, your
product ethos, how to’s etc... into the hands of your customer to create further connection.

This can come in the form of mailers, invoices, brochures etc.

Tips to create a good package insert:


» Use high quality design
» Show and tell
» Give coupon for next order or Incentivize referral
» Cross sell other products
» Indoctrinate into the tribe
Content Amplification Strategy
This is where you’ll re-engage with the people who have previously engaged with your
brand, while using your content to capture new customers into your store too.

Successful ecommerce stores generate almost half of their revenue from ‘returning visitors’.
So reengaging contacts with content opens up the doors for them to come back! The
goal therefore is to convert those prospects by soft selling with content! All successful
ecommerce stores should be doing this because it works!

You’ll create content assets to engage with your audience on your own channels. Content
with value that’s interesting and relatable to your audience. You’ll amplify that content
across your multiple marketing channels (email, social, blog, etc) to send people back to
your site... And then you’ll send offers to people based on their interaction.

A note on your email lists


As you now know, your email list will generate 1/3 of sales. So outside of the automations
previously covered, you‘ll use it here to...
» Send broadcast emails to your list
» Engage with high quality, relevant content
» New products
» Holiday Sales & Promotional Offers.
» Social engagement campaigns.
» Any value you can think of.
»
How often should you email your lists
» 1-3x Per Week good
» 3x is idea
» At Least One Offer Per Month
Content Strategy Process
This is now a common process for content marketing. Here, it‘s broken up into 4 phases...

» Creation - create the content, videos, images, blogs


» Optimization - links, tracking codes
» Syndication - publish to your various channels (socials, email list etc)
» Amplification - put money behind it to boost it’s reach

Note: Be consistent. The more touch points, the bigger the connection and relationship...
and the more conversions you’ll generate. It’s the key to success.

Let’s walk through that process step by step...

1. Creation
Video is the most effective form of content!

Here‘s why:
» Face to face with your audience
» The consistency of face to face builds intimacy and trust
» You can syndicate video content into other formats (articles, posts etc)
» Video sells!
» Optimises for social media optimisation
» Generates continuous content assets that leads to sales conversions!

Notes: If you don’t have a personality or face of your brand, use somebody else as the face.
Or use multiple people and rotate them.

And... if video doesn’t work for you and you’d rather write... then write! It will still generate
sales if you follow the same process. should you email your lists
Content Strategy Process
Types of Content you should create:
» Opinions - polarising is popular
» Educational content
» Behind the scenes
» Industry specific
» Timely / relevant to current events
» Tips lists
» Community feedback
» Interviews & guests (other brands)
» Curated content (commenting)
» Anything to the problems/conversations your community has

2. Optimization
This ensures that your content is easy for your customers to consume on multiple channels
and in multiple formats.

It needs to be optimised for Facebook, Instagram, Stories, Blogs, Email etc.

Here is a summarized method for optimizing: (You can see more on content syndication and
amplification in our strategy here)

Best practices to optimize your content:


» Create a title
» Create a highlight - sections covered (timestamps etc)
» Create a transcription - for blog posts and emails
» Create a custom thumbnail - capture those clicks
» Create tweets and image quotes from the video - use for social posts
» Create a watermark for the intro and outros of your content
» Create captions for your video for added engagement
Content Strategy Process
3. Syndication
You’ve created and optimized the content for different platforms.

Now syndicate to the channels below:


» Store blog
» Facebook
» Twitter
» Instagram
» Pinterest
» YouTube
» Email

1) Use UTM links on all content that you are posting outside of your store so you can track
the impact and performance on sales and revenue.

2) Create content excerpts/intros above each post to let people know what the content is
about

3) If you are only one of these channels, just post there. But you should be on at least one
social channel.
Content Strategy Process
4. Amplification
Boosting your content with paid promotion and ads increases the engagement on the
content, allowing you to get in front of more potential customers.

This also fills the top of your funnel and makes it more profitable to retarget customers
who have previously engaged with your brand, and thus optimising ad campaigns and
conversions.

These are the best practices to amplify your content:


» Use Facebook‘s boost post option!
» Set the campaign objective: video views
» Put 10-20% of total ad budget on boosting posts for engagement
» Only promote the post for a week
» Follow up engaged viewers with direct response sale ads

Final Thoughts
Lot’s of information. Lots of steps. Lot’s of campaigns. Our best advice is to go through this
strategy in order. Start with the tech stack, then optimise your site for conversions, creating
content, creating your email sequences, adding your marketing stack apps, before building
out your brand with content!

If you put all the steps together in this strategy you’ll be joining the best e- commerce
stores in the world and you’ll put yourself in a position to take your store to the next level.
If you’d like to explore working with us to help you execute on these campaigns, or if you’d
simply like more coaching, consulting or guidance, we’d be happy to work with you.

Just get in touch with us here: www.avoline.co/contact

Thanks and good luck!

You might also like