Your customers are your most important asset. You would never give up your customer list to a competitor. However, if you are not marketing to them you might as well be.
Why market to a customer you already have?
The next time the your customer needs to make an order more often than not they google the item they need vs going to you first. To get them to think of you first you need to keep your name in front of them consistently. It’s easy for them to use google to find what they want; they don’t have any loyalty to your business unless you cultivate it through consistent engagement with the customer.
What is at stake for you?
At best without consistent customer engagement the cost of acquiring that customer is thrown away. Keeping an existing customer is almost free, replacing that customer can be very costly.
At worst you lose customers slowly and as revenue falls you end up blaming everything and everyone but the true cause. It’s always the business owner’s fault. Even in a bad recession Business & Consumer Spending only drops 2-5%(adjusted for inflation) however at the same time online spending increases.
Where to Start?
There are endless ways to market I am just focusing email because it provides cost effective results.
- For Power eCommerce Customers
First: Assign someone to be responsible & accountable for each of these steps.
Second: Make sure all your customers are in your Power eCommerce admin with valid email addresses (even if they do not order online).
Third: Setup a SendGrid account. SendGrid is used to send your marketing emails to your customers in bulk. The cost: Free for 100 emails a day or $20 for 100,000 click the link to see their pricing and to sign up. Once that is done we will send you instruction on how to connect SendGrid to Power eCommerce.
Forth: Now determine what type of emails to send, product specials or coupons. Best to send mostly product specials with coupons no more than 4 times a year. Ask us for help if you are not sure how to set this up.
Fifth: Pick at least one day a week to send your emails. On that day click the send button!
- If you are using a different ecommerce solution.
First: Assign someone to be responsible & accountable for each of these steps.
Second: Build an excel list of all your customers..
Third: Signup for any of these types of services to send your marketing emails. Constant Contact, Mailerlite.com, braze.com or any the 100's of others. Don’t be too picky just get started.
Forth: Upload your customer list to the service you chose.
Fifth: Design an email that links to your web site (products should link directly to that product).
Sixth: Pick at least one day a week to send your emails. On that day click the send button!
Start Today - Its up to you.
Leverage the integration between Clover Imaging Group and Power eCommerce and give your online store seamless intigration to the Clover products with automated cost & inventory updates.
Resellers receive the benefits of a powerful ecommerce solution and a top tier distributor like Clover Imaging Group. View the Clover demo store for a snapshot of what a Power eCommerce integration with Clover can give you.
If you use Kaspersky security software in the US, start looking at alternatives. On Thursday, the US Department of Commerce announced a ban on Kaspersky software, prohibiting the Russia-based company from selling any of its core security products in the US.
The ban follows an investigation by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry (BIS), which found the company and its products are a security risk. As justification for the ban, the BIS cited 'unacceptable risks to the United States' national security and the security and safety of its people.' Specifically, the agency pointed to the following factors as a result of its investigation:
Kaspersky is subject to the jurisdiction, control, or direction of the Russian government.
Kaspersky software gives the Russian government access to sensitive US customer information.
Russia is a foreign adversary that continues to threaten the United States.
Kaspersky software is capable of installing malicious software and withholding critical updates.
The manipulation of Kaspersky software, including in US critical infrastructure, can result in data theft, espionage, and system malfunction. The products also threaten the economic security and public health in the US, resulting in injuries or loss of life.
Kaspersky has long been suspect in the eyes of the US government due to the firm's ties to Russia. In 2017, the US banned the use of the company's products across all government agencies. This ban, however, marks the first time that Kaspersky products will no longer be allowed for consumer or business use in the country.
Arlington Industries Distributor Integration With Power eCommerce.
Leverage the integration between Arlington and Power eCommerce and give your online store seamless intigration to the Arlington products with automated cost & inventory updates as well as order/PO processing.
Resellers receive all these benefits in a turn-key platform for an affordable monthly subscription. View the Arlington demo store for a snapshot of what your new eCommerce site could look like.
Current Power eCommerce users can add the Arlington product catalogue feed by emailing
[email protected].
What Happened to Make Google Search Bad?
Google Search, once the go-to source for internet users seeking information, has been under scrutiny recently. A growing number of users and researchers are raising concerns about the declining quality of search results123. But what exactly has led to this perceived deterioration? Let’s delve into the details.
The Rise of SEO Spam
A recent study by German researchers from Leipzig University, Bauhaus-University Weimar, and the Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence revealed a significant issue plaguing Google Search: SEO spam1. The researchers examined 7,392 product review queries on Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo for a year and found that a torrent of low-quality content, especially for product search, is drowning any kind of useful information in search results1.
SEO spam, particularly in the form of low-quality product reviews, has become hyper-prevalent, often appearing at the top of Google’s rankings1. This has led to a constant battle between search engines and spam sites, with the latter seemingly gaining the upper hand1.
The Impact of User-Generated Content
Google’s increasing reliance on user-generated content has also contributed to the decline in search result quality3. Spammers have found ways to manipulate this reliance, leading to an influx of low-quality content in search results3.
The Advent of Generative AI
The advent of generative AI has exacerbated the problem. This new technology can produce low-quality copy instantly, flooding the internet with low-effort content from SEO farms and affiliate link sites2. As AI-generated spam becomes more prevalent, the quality of search results is likely to deteriorate further1.
Googles Response
Despite these issues, Google maintains that the study does not reflect the overall quality and helpfulness of Search1. They argue that the study focuses narrowly on product search, which does not represent the billions of queries they process every day1. Google also points out that they have launched specific improvements to address these issues and that third-party measurements of search engine results for other types of queries have found Google to be of significantly higher quality1.
Conclusion
While Google Search has seen some decline in quality, particularly in relation to product searches, it’s important to note that the company is aware of these issues and is actively working to improve. However, with the rise of SEO spam and the advent of generative AI, the battle for high-quality search results is far from over. As users, staying informed about these changes can help us navigate the evolving landscape of online search.
