Category: eCommerce

Understanding the traditional marketing funnel and the digital marketing funnel

Posted on by seoghana
A marketing funnel is a powerful way for businesses to focus and coordinate their marketing efforts. To get the most out of a marketing funnel, businesses must optimize their work at each stage of the funnel to reach desired outcomes. The marketing funnel video in this course introduced you to a simple and generalized funnel design with four stages:
  • Awareness
  • Consideration
  • Conversion
  • Loyalty
You also learned that there are multiple versions of marketing funnels. Marketing funnels have been revised over time to reflect changes in business, technology, and even customer behavior. This reading provides a brief history of the funnel’s evolution.

Evolution of the marketing funnel

How is tofu related to a marketing funnel? Actually, ToFU (not the bean curd product) is an acronym for Top of Funnel. There are also MoFU and BoFU which stand for Middle of Funnel and Bottom of Funnel, respectively. When using any funnel, the aim is to get the most desirable outcomes for ToFU, MoFU, and BoFU. As you read about different funnel designs, you can also think about how the desired ToFU, MoFU, and BoFU outcomes for each are similar or different.

Traditional sales funnel

Funnels probably took shape first as sales funnels. A simple sales funnel has awareness, interest, decision, and action stages as depicted in the following graphic. marketing funnel Desirable outcomes for a sales funnel, like the one shown in the graphic, might be:
  • Awareness (ToFU): The customer has a general awareness of your brand, product, or service.
  • Interest (MoFU): Your brand, product, or service comes up as a top choice when the customer researches, comparison shops, or thinks about options.
  • Decision (MoFU): The customer chooses your brand, product, or service over your competitor’s.
  • Action (BoFU): The customer purchases your brand, product, or service.

Combined marketing and sales funnel

Most likely, combined funnels for marketing and sales grew out of sales funnels. One example is shown below. digital marketing funnel Desirable outcomes for a combined sales and marketing funnel, like the one shown in the graphic, might be:
  • Awareness (ToFU): The customer has a general awareness of your brand, product, or service.
  • Interest (MoFU): Your brand, product, or service comes up as a top choice when the customer researches, comparison shops, or thinks about options.
  • Desire (MoFU): The customer has motivation or an incentive to purchase your brand, product, or service.
  • Action (BoFU): The customer purchases your brand, product, or service for the first time.
  • Conversion (BoFU): The customer makes regular purchases and a customer relationship is established.

Digital marketing funnel

As business and technology evolved, more specialized funnels were then developed, as in the case of a funnel entirely dedicated to digital marketing. An example of a specialized digital marketing funnel is shown below. Note that the Remarketing stage of the funnel is only for customers who engaged with your brand, product, or service at least once before and didn’t previously convert. New customers can proceed directly from the Consideration stage to the Conversion stage. remarketing funnel Desirable outcomes for a digital marketing funnel, like the one shown in the graphic, might be:
  • Awareness and engagement (ToFU): The customer has a general awareness of your brand, product, or service, and engages in online activity to learn more.
  • Consideration (MoFU): Your brand, product, or service comes up as a top choice after the customer has engaged.
  • Remarketing (MoFU): The customer who didn’t convert is re-engaged to consider your brand, product, or service again.
  • Conversion (BoFU): The customer purchases your brand, product, or service for the first time.
  • Retention (BoFU): The customer makes regular purchases and a customer relationship is established.

Other marketing funnel variations

Today, specific funnels exist for many individual areas of marketing. Examples include an e-commerce marketing funnel, a social media marketing funnel, and even a content marketing funnel.

E-commerce marketing funnel

An e-commerce marketing funnel can include the following stages that focus on attracting and retaining customers:
  • Awareness: Build awareness of your e-commerce business.
  • Consideration: Build the brand.
  • Differentiation: Stand out in the business category.
  • Purchase: Reach shoppers most likely to purchase.
  • Brand readiness: Increase the potential for shoppers to make return purchases.

Social media marketing funnel

A social media marketing funnel can include these stages that turn a customer with brand awareness into a customer who is an advocate:
  • Awareness: Attract potential customers unaware of your brand, product, or service.
  • Consideration: Stand out among your competitors so potential customers have a good impression of your brand, product, or service.
  • Action: Convince potential customers to act and make a purchase.
  • Engagement: Keep customers engaged after they make a purchase so your brand, product, or service remains top-of-mind and in the spotlight.
  • Advocacy: Build trust with customers so they recommend your brand, product, or service to others.

Content marketing funnel

A content marketing funnel can include these stages to help marketers organize and focus their content:
  • Awareness: Build web pages, blogs, social media posts, infographics, and podcasts.
  • Evaluation: Focus on surveys, email, webinars, and educational events.
  • Conversion: Provide customer success stories, webinars, specifications, and demos.

Key takeaways

The key takeaways for funnels are:
  • There isn’t a single funnel that fits all needs.
  • Funnels are created for general sales and marketing needs.
  • Funnels are also created for specialized areas of marketing.
  • Effective marketing efforts incorporate funnels to optimize desired outcomes.
Finally, as a reminder, although this reading introduced a variety of funnels, the marketing funnel that you will refer to often in this program is the one shown below. social media funnel
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Tips To Receiving Enough Facebook Business Page Likes

Posted on by seoghana
Success-on-your-Facebook-business-page

Succeeding on your Facebook business page

In order to achieve success on your Facebook business page, you need an engaged community. Without it, no one will see or read your content, making it difficult to build brand awareness and deliver ROI. New social networks crop up all the time, generating buzz and excitement among businesses and tech media, but Facebook remains the giant, with has 2.80 billion monthly active users. To keep up with changing needs and trends, Facebook continues to evolve, introducing new features and functionality for users and advertisers. If you are unable to keep up, you could miss out on potential customers. However, it’s not just about the quantity of Facebook Likes, it’s about the quality. You need to attract the right audience and engage them in ways that align with your business goals. Here is the latest checklist to ensure you have enough quality likes and following on your Facebook business page.

  1. Optimize your Facebook Page Information

First things first! Most of the time, the only thing people see from your company’s Facebook Page is the profile picture, cover image, and short description. Make sure your brand’s images and description are engaging, encapsulate what your company does, and encourages people to like your page. Don’t stop there, make sure you fill out as much of your Page Info as you can. Select the categories and subcategories that best describe your company, include your website URL, list your address, phone number, and hours of operation (if applicable). All of this information will help your page appear in Facebook & Google searches when people are looking for companies like yours, which can increase your Facebook likes even more!

  1. Post engaging content

It’s important to post engaging, entertaining, and compelling content on your business Page. Facebook constantly updates its Edgerank algorithm and rewards posts that receive engagement (likes, comments, shares) with increased reach. Facebook will reward your content by letting your engaged users’ friends know on their newsfeed that they’ve engaged with your content.  Recently Facebook announced that it will update its algorithm to track how long users spend reading posts. Videos are the best type of content to post on Facebook for capturing attention and driving engagement. But make sure the videos are at an optimal length to grab your followers’ attention and keep it long enough to digest the content.

  1. Page URL

Take a quick look at your Facebook business page now – what does the URL in the browser bar look like? If it’s something like this: https://www.facebook.com/kente-house-ghana -162166373456878/ (see all the numbers at the end?) then you’re missing an opportunity. In less than a minute you can easily change the web address of your Facebook page to something a bit more memorable, like www.facebook.com/kente-house-ghana. Click the ‘About’ tab below your Facebook cover photo, then click the Facebook Web Address option and type whatever you’d like to appear after the Facebook.com URL.

  1. Make your Facebook business page easy to find

People looking for your brand on Facebook will be searching for your brand name. Keep things simple and make it easy for them to find you by using your brand name as your Page name. Don’t add unnecessary keywords—these will just make your Page look spammy rather than like a legitimate business presence for your brand. Your username should be consistent with your handle on other social channels will make it easier for people who already follow you elsewhere to track you down on Facebook. Like your Page name, your username should be closely related to the name of your business. Someone who has just discovered a valuable tip or strategy on your website or blog is primed to want to hear more from you. Make it easy for them to connect with you on Facebook by adding Facebook follow and Like buttons to your site.

  1. Know when to post content on your Facebook page

Think about how often you post on Facebook. Is it once per day? Once a week? Only once a month? You also need to analyze the time of day you’re posting on Facebook. All of this matters when it comes to increasing engagement and getting more likes. Research shows that higher engagements happen later in the week and on the weekends. If you think about it, this makes sense. People have jobs and are usually busier during the week. But as the weekend nears, they may be getting a little bit antsy and slack off if they are ahead of schedule. So they can spend more time on Facebook. People are also happier on the weekends so they are more inclined to like, share, and comment on your posts. You also need to consider who likes your Facebook page. For example, if 90% of your followers are from Ghanaian, posting at 3 AM EST isn’t going to yield high engagement rates. Use automation tools to schedule your Facebook posts at the most optimal times so you won’t have to do it manually each day. Your posting schedule also needs to remain consistent. Stick to your strategy. Don’t post regularly for a month or so and then go silent. But you don’t want to spam your followers and post too frequently either.

  1. Posts on your Facebook page should be kept short and concise

Nobody is going to read massive blocks of text on social media. There is just too much for them to see from their friends and family. Reading long posts from brand pages won’t be at the top of their priority lists. Social media platforms such as Facebook are designed for users to scroll through content quickly. You also need to consider how many Facebook users are accessing content from their mobile devices: Paragraphs on your computer screen will appear even longer on mobile devices. Plus, long blocks of text are difficult to read. If you’re currently posting long content, it may be the reason why you’re not getting enough likes. A good rule of thumb is that shorter is always better. If people see your posts aren’t long, they will be less hesitant to like your page.

  1. Invite your existing community

You have a community that’s easily within reach: employees, friends, current customers, business & industry partners. They are likely to be your first advocates and find your content interesting and shareable. Why not send a friendly personal invitation to ask them to like your company’s Facebook Page if they haven’t already? One way to do this is by simply adding a call-to-action in a personal e-mail (i.e. “P.S. Like us on Facebook”). Add a slide at the end of your presentations or webinars to encourage customers and business partners to remind them to like your Facebook Page, if they haven’t already. As for your industry ‘buddies,’ find their Facebook Pages and Like them as your brand. To do this log into Business Manager > click the Use Page button > click the Use Facebook As Your Page link (top right, in a skinny grey bar). It’s a great way to Like your industry partners, colleagues, & other influencer brands. Plus you’ll be able to view your News Feed as your brand and keep watch on what’s happening in your industry on Facebook.

  1. Use Facebook Ads to reach more people

Facebook offers very detailed ad targeting, so you can laser-focus your advertising efforts and make the most of your ad spend. Putting your brand in front of your ideal audience is a great way to pick up more Facebook Likes. By boosting a post, you can extend the audience beyond people who already like your Page. This can be a great option for a post that’s already proved to be compelling. It can bring in a large number of Facebook likes from people who already follow your Page. Facebook also offers campaign objectives relevant to every type of business. Since this post is about how to get Facebook Likes, we’ll focus on the Engagement objective, which is designed to expose your ad to a wide audience to increase the number of posts or Page Likes. Go to your business manager page for options on running a campaign or boosting posts.

  1. Run competitions, or promotions on your Facebook page

Your business can run competitions or promotions on its Facebook to build an audience and get more likes. Even better, liking a post is a popular form of contest entry and one that’s allowed under Facebook’s contest rules  If you decide to do so, make sure your competition follows Facebook’s Promotion Guidelines. Also ensure your competition is fun, easy, relevant to your audience, and encourages users to share their participation with friends. Don’t forget to utilize Facebook Ads to promote your contest. And If you use an app to run your contest, make sure it’s mobile-optimized.

  1. Use social media monitoring to measure, analyze, and learn

Use Facebook Insights or other automated apps to find useful metrics on your Page performance. You can view metrics like reach, the number of engaged users, engagement rate, and new Page likes. These metrics will help you understand what’s driving your likes and engagement so that you can adjust your posts accordingly.   Did I forget anything? Have a question about any of the suggestions above? Please add a comment and, if you like the post, feel free to share it with your friends. Now that you know how to get more likes for your Facebook Page, it’s time to increase your Facebook reach content. Contact us today! Please Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook if you haven’t already.          
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Protecting Your Privacy Online: Things To Consider

Posted on by seoghana
website securityProtect your privacy online

Cyber hackers and security threats

Protecting your privacy online is a critical area of concern for many individuals, especially when using a credit card. If you are worried about how much of your private information is online and vulnerable to theft, you’re not alone. Online has become an extensive playground for cyber hackers and security threats because users are increasingly sharing their private information online. Protecting your privacy online an important issue. How can you know that your private information is safe online? Knowing how to protect your website and yourself while online will ensure that your private data is kept private. All e-commerce websites require you to put in your credit card information, which potentially compromises data and allows hackers to get your information. How sure are you that your information is safe with the domain that you are using? There are ways to protect your personal information while still enjoying much of what the web has to offer. In this article, we shall consider basic things you need to know so that your financial and personal information is protected while you visit your favorite sites. Get to know the main goals of hacking and tips on how to evaluate website security. There are various goals when hacking websites, but the main ones are:
  • Exploiting site visitors.
  • Stealing information stored on the server.
  • Tricking bots and crawlers (black-hat SEO).
  • Abusing server resources.
  • Pure hooliganism (defacement).

  1. Protecting your privacy online means not sharing  everything about yourself on social media

A smart way to protecting your privacy online is by not sharing everything about you on social media. Providing too much information on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram could make it easier for cybercriminals to obtain identifying information. This could allow them to steal your identity or to access your financial information. For example, could an identity thief determine your date of birth, spouse’s name, information of your children, your location, travel plans, or your mother’s maiden name from your Facebook account? This information is sometimes used as security questions to change passwords on financial accounts. Unfortunately, many people don’t take this advice. In a 2018 study, the Identity Theft Resource Centre found that approximately 52 percent of respondents shared personal information through social media sites. To protect your online privacy, ignore the “About Me” fields in your social media profiles. You don’t have to let people know what year or where your hometown is located— which could make you an easier target for identity theft. You might want to limit who can view your posts to those you’ve personally invited. Create strong passwords, too, for your social media profiles to help prevent others from logging into them in your name. This means using a combination of at least 12 numbers, special characters, and upper- and lower-case letters. And never use personal, easy-to-guess information — such as your birthdate as your password.

  1. Look out for legitimate Domain

One of the most basic steps in checking the security of the website you’re visiting is taking a look at the URL. Many people fail to look up the URL of the website, especially if they’re already reading the content on the page. Others may give it only a basic glance–and if it looks right, they’re convinced. However, one of the most common scams simply mimics the existing content. The scam site copies the content exactly as it appears on the original page—aside from a few key details. In many cases, phishing sites use a very similar URL to the original. For example, instead of http://www.ebay.com, it may appear as http[:]//www.ebay.com. The simple addition allows scammers to convince gullible individuals that they’re visiting the site they thought they should be on. As a result, they simply hand over their credit card information without hesitation. It’s important, therefore, that you take the time to carefully check over the URL before making a purchase. The “S” in HTTPS stands for “secured.” Websites with this simple logo indicate that they’re transferring information through an encrypted network. Not every site offers the secure technology of an HTTPS lock. If you don’t see the lock icon on the site you’re looking at, it means that HTTPS security isn’t working or that the site doesn’t offer that secure connection. And you most likely should take your shopping elsewhere.

  1. Browse in incognito or private mode

If you don’t want your computer to save your browsing history, temporary internet files, or cookies, do your web surfing in private mode. Web browsers today offer their own versions of this form of privacy protection. In Chrome, it’s called Incognito Mode. Firefox calls its setting Private Browsing, and Internet Explorer uses the name InPrivate Browsing for its privacy feature. When you search with these modes turned on, others won’t be able to trace your browsing history from your computer. But these private modes aren’t completely private. When you’re searching in incognito or private mode, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can still see your browsing activity. If you are searching on a company computer, so can your employer. The websites you visit can also track you. So, yes, incognito browsing does have certain benefits. But it’s far from the only tool available to help you maintain your privacy while online.

  1. Browse with other search engines

If you’re like many web surfers, you rely heavily on Google as your search engine. But you don’t have to. Protecting your privacy online is one reason people prefer to use anonymous search engines. This type of search engine doesn’t collect or share your search history or clicks. Anonymous search engines can also block ad trackers on the websites you visit.

  1. Switch to a virtual private network

A virtual private network (VPN) protects your privacy online by creating a private network from a public internet connection. VPNs mask your Internet Protocol (IP) address so your online actions are virtually untraceable. Using a VPN is especially important when you’re on public Wi-Fi at a library, coffee shop, or other public location. A VPN will make it more difficult for cybercriminals to breach your online privacy and access your personal information. You can find many free VPN solutions, but if you want maximum privacy, pay for the service from a trusted security provider.

  1. Don’t click on just anything

One of the ways in which hackers compromise your online privacy is through phishing attempts. In phishing, scammers try to trick you into providing valuable financial or personal information. They’ll often do this by sending fake emails that appear to be from banks or credit card providers. Often, these emails say you must click on a link to verify your financial information otherwise you risk your account getting frozen or closed. Don’t fall for these scams. If you click on a phishing link, you could be taken to a spoofed webpage that looks like the homepage of your bank. But when you enter your account information, you’ll be sending it to the scammers behind the phishing attempt. Before clicking on suspicious links, hover your cursor over the link to view the destination URL. If it doesn’t match the financial website you use, don’t click. If you receive such an email, immediately log a complaint to your bank.

  1. Security Seals

Most eCommerce websites understand the critical importance of securing traffic to make their visitors safer. As a result, they frequently work with security providers to ensure they’re providing the highest possible level of website security. Each website security provider offers a scan seal or security seal option that can be viewed by users. Usually, this is in the form of an Iframe that can be placed on the protected website, letting visitors know that the website is credible. Any time you visit a new website for your shopping needs, take the time to check out its security seal.

  1. Use strong passwords for your mobile phones

Many of us spend more time surfing the web, and watching videos on our smartphones than we do on our laptops. It’s important, then, to put as much effort into protecting our online privacy on our phones as on our computers. To start, make sure to use passwords to lock your phone. It might seem like a hassle to enter a code every time you want to access your phone’s home screen. But this password could offer an extra layer of protection if your phone is lost or stolen. Make sure your password is complex. Don’t use your birthdate, your house number, or any other code that thieves might be able to guess. Use caution when downloading apps. Some games and productivity tools could come embedded with dangerous viruses. Only buy games from legitimate sources. Don’t ignore software updates, either. These updates often include important protections against the latest viruses. If you continue to ignore them, you could be leaving your smartphone’s operating system and programs vulnerable to attack.

  1. Use quality antivirus software

Finally, always install antivirus software on all your devices. This software can keep hackers from remotely accessing your personal and financial information, and tracking your location. And once you install this software, frequently update your antivirus protection. Do you want to know more about protecting your privacy online whiles having fun on your favourite sites? Do you want to have your website thoroughly checked for malware, suspicious activity, or want to know more about the threats we check for and how that information can benefit you, your website–or the websites that you’re visiting–contact us here.  
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eCommerce in Ghana, Best Practices To Standout And Boost Sales

Posted on by seoghana
eCommerce in Ghana,Best Practices To Standout And Boost Sales The eCommerce industry is a big game in Ghana now. There are different phases that depict the success of an eCommerce Business. Each of these phases has a distinct role to play in the making of a website to outstand competitive grounds. Ghana has experienced large setups venturing into the web eCommerce and Courier business but the problem is, are they doing it right? Research has shown that more than 50% of the total world’s population is now going online shopping with over 30% increase every year. E-commerce will develop at a twice faster rate in the coming years. It has already been found that more than 40% of the purchased done by the millennial is through eCommerce and predicted to rise to more than 60 % by the year 2021. Investing in e-commerce platforms is fairly simple but not easy. Allocating money can be fun but you will have to do your due diligence and choose to select the right few to generate the most gains over your investing horizon. Investing in these companies will have lower downsides and will take much less time. The first thing that comes to the mind of eCommerce entrepreneurs, is BUDGET! But it is never a good practice to start an eCommerce web development project based on budget. Though a prime factor, your budget should not limit your progression and analysis of potentials, only the choice that you make after exploring all the possibilities. Also, talk to SEOGHANA to explore the options you have to set your eCommerce business as a brand because a brand always comes with a better competitive advantage.

User Experience

—– The best user experience that you can provide in an eCommerce Website is speed, sleek graphics and agility to various devices and information. Along with that, you can also string along a simplistic way to apply discounts and promo codes without needing the customer to have to search and find it. Information is really pivotal for the outreach of eCommerce business especially in Ghana, so give ample and easily available information about returns, policies, packaging options, delivery options and all. The less the customer has to look for these things, the faster they turn up to make a purchase. UX designing is something that you ought to give more time and scrutiny, You know why? ‘cos that will determine not just how your website looks and feels, but also how it functions for you customers and the entire diversity of them. So let’s jot down the top priorities of a successful UX design: ● A simplistic navigation structure so that users don’t have to use the “back button” to go back or any other page (Have you considered iPhone users?). You should have the navigation bar close at hand with a simple format so that any page can be visited with a single click. ● A streamlined catalogue so that your products are easily searched. Get down with elaborate keyword research and do your best in finding your customers the exact thing that they are looking for, even with a misspelt search. AI-powered search is the top tool to invest in if your catalogue is really large and diversified. This technology is capable of suggesting customers the ideal products based on their search history. And you can just get too lucky if your product appears in front of someone who just wanted to have it, without having that person literally lookup that product on your site. It works, in uniting the buyers and sellers without much ado. Ask us how? ● A levitating checkout process (This is very important!) – Here the customer is about to make a decision. the smoothness of the checkout process determines the rounding off of your customer lifecycle. Make it easier with Shopping Cart preference settings and provide a minimalist content layout so that customers don’t have to go through fine prints to pick up the essential information.

Progressive Web Application

—– This is called PWA, and it has been recognised as the next best thing for eCommerce stores right now. What it does?  It simply helps in building the most satisfactory UX. This has been on the digital radar since around 2015, and since then have revolutionised the eCommerce industry. Technically, Progressive Web Applications are built on HTML, JavaScript and CSS platforms, that are web-based applications having the feel of a Native mobile application. The best way to access this is by logging in through a browser but you can also install a PWA into your device home screen. Either way, PWAs require less time and energy than it takes to create a website and a mobile app separately. The best benefits that PWAs provided is the omnipresent access across mobile home screens, and that customers can access the site even with poor network.

Customer Support

—– You may add live chat support or a direct WhatsApp interface. The more close at hand and friendly your customer service is, the more your customers are going to trust your store, and even refer it to others. Nowadays, most websites give an enquiry form in their chat pages, wherein customers would have to register at the site to be able to chat. You can change this idea, by offering free advice at all times, without needing the customer to have to go through a long process of registration, just to get a simple answer to a whimsical query. But if you are offering them free advice, then somewhere down the line, you are getting a shot at speaking directly to a lead, and can potentially turn it into a conversion without being too clingy or pushy.

Final Word Of Advice

—– Remember, the first thing that you should bring to the establishment of a new website is the Product. And based on how big your product catalogue is, and how diverse it is going to be in about 3-5 years, choose the platform. But it is very hard to provide proper guidance about the best options for choosing a web development platform because it really depends on the stature and objectives of your eCommerce business notwithstanding its huge SEO integration, so it is always radical to consult with a specialist before making a move. Or at least read plenty of case studies and white papers to steer clear of any preconceived notion about it. Contact us today and let’s build that web winning platform for you!
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