Haven’t you ever shopped in an E-commerce site? You must have. If you have, then I can bet that you must have fallen in their traps for at least once! The marketing techniques they use has us in a delusion of being lucky enough to get them. But the back story is something everyone’s oblivious of. They’ve used your emotions against you and made some good bucks with it. Yes, that’s the truth. So, it’s not you who has the last laugh. It’s the seller you bought it from. If you still don’t believe what I said, let’s delve further into this.
Time running out:
This is one frequent technique used by the giants like Amazon to take advantage of our fears, the fear of missing out on an opportunity. First, they reduce the prices to a certain amount where their profits would come down to a certain amount but hey, they’ll still be in profits. Then these e-commerce sites create this situation of urgency where your fear starts to kick in! Then you wouldn’t want to wait anymore and click that purchase button right away. This is how you are being tricked into purchasing this.
Only x left in stock:
This is one another trick like the previous one. Similar to the “time running out” situation, even here a sense of urgency is created and that emotion in you is taken advantage of. When you look at an item you like and you can’t find it on any other sites, what would you do? You would wait for other websites to introduce the product or for this site to reduce its price. But when they say that it’s just the last one in their stock list, what would you do? You’d purchase it without a second thought. There you go, you’ve been tricked again!
Sales day:
This is one of those times where the company’s profits would take a massive hike. No matter which country you belong to, I’m sure you would have come across these events. You must have heard people naming a fancy title for a few days where all their products are provided at a cheaper cost. This is when you get a feel of walking in a sale market. The days like Thanksgiving, even though the items are sold for almost the same price, but still a reduction in a few bucks seems like a huge discount that you could get even on the ordinary days. The only difference is you need to search it right. But nope! You inculcate a feeling of missing out on an opportunity and start investing on this one day.
Coupon code provided from different products:
This is one other way in which these markets captivate you. First, they send out personalized information on these codes through different means. Later, they say this is an exclusive offer and won’t last long. Then you get all jubilant and quickly use your code to make the purchase, though almost everyone gets these codes. This is one another way you are trapped in their ploy. The trick is, you won’t feel like purchasing something on discount as much as you would like to, with a coupon code.
X% and additional Y%:
This one’s their favourite. This is one of those additional exciting offers that make you go exultant with an additional offer over the pre-existing ones. You must have seen the offer says a 40% discount and an additional 20% discount. For those, who still think it’s a 40+20=60, you’re not supposed to add it people! It’s a 52% and that’s how they legally take advantage of that 8%. So from this time onwards don’t be fooled by these tricks which can’t be called to be a deception but it actually is.
Premium member sales:
This one you might have seen while shopping with Amazon. If you are a prime member, you can get additional benefits when compared to the non-prime members. The deals start for these guys a few moments earlier to the others and these members have access to additional discounts as well. To be honest, these things are less tricky than others but still, for countries like India where the prime membership is quite less, this is worth going for, though they get some huge profits on those subscriptions. That’s because there would be close to 50% of those who don’t take advantage of their memberships.
“Only for you” Sales:
Sometimes some of the offers are offered to you in a personalized email or a text. These are said to be exclusively offered for you. But on the backstage what happens is, these sites send out these offers at a different time to almost everyone. This way these brands start building a relationship with their customers. This also gives you an impression that you have a good connection with this particular e-commerce site. So, before you ever start thinking in that perspective, understand that there are a million others who have been purchasing from them and you, in particular, are not an exception.
If you want to know about the changes and trends in web development in recent years, then you’re at the right place. The web development has evolved drastically throughout the years. After undergoing continuous changes, web development has reached a stage where it knows how to attract a customer in the right way. With timely changes, new methods are to be acquired in order to stay with the flow. So, without any further ado, let’s get to the point and figure out all those techniques, that are going to be a trend this year and most probably, the next year as well.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP):
If you don’t already know what an AMP is, then you need to understand that it is one of those features, which loads a page instantly without any delay. Usually, when you search for something on Google and then open a link, it takes a while to load the web page. But here, you don’t have to wait anymore. The page opens instantly on a mobile device. Apparently, 51% of the internet users use mobile for their jobs. Thus, with the introduction of such features, it’d be easier for the pages to receive huge traffic through phones. This project is still in progress, and might come into limelight any time, pretty soon. Let’s wait for this and see if it does, as it promises.
Progressive Web Applications:
This is yet another major must-have changes in your web development area. If you’d like to make yourself run and come first in this race of millions, then making the lives of the readers easier, would be the best way to go about it. Progressive web applications(PWA) does just that for you. Just the way a computer browser often displays an application-like page, progressive web app enables the users to have a similar experience on mobile phones. It delivers an app-like user experience.
Shadows and 3D view:
The shadow and 3D effects have already been on websites for quite some time, but aren’t being implemented everywhere. The shadow and 3D effects give a real-time impression of the website and make it more comfortable to come to. Though 3D and shadows have been in use for a while, it doesn’t mean that there’s still much room for it to grow. So,keep using different techniques to make it more real than ever.
Integrated animations(Motion UI):
This is one change you might have seen this year or in the previous year. This has been one of the most trendy ways used by a website, to make it feel alive. That’s what animations do to your pages, they makes it all the more fun and interesting to watch. It’s said that animations, as such give employees some relief from their work stress for a while, if they care enough to notice it. A catchy web page, with animations has the viewers’ attention and makes them linger on the website for a while.
Virtual reality:
This is one thing that many of the website developers need to concentrate on. If yours is a real estate website, then you can paste uep some kind of QR code, through which the viewer, with the help of a VR headset can get an actual picture of what he/she wants to buy. The viewer can get a good view of the whole inside of the building with the actual dimensions. It saves time and money both for the buyer, as well as the seller, and makes it easier for them to make a purchase sitting at home.
Push notifications:
These are one of those things that can be very useful and fetch you a lot of customers. On the flip side, these can turn fatal and make you lose all your customers, if misused. That’s the kind of influence a push notification can have on its users. Though this has been on the internet for a while, the users still haven’t been able to make the most of it. One needs to understand the patterns and different behaviours of the users in order to implement this in the best way possible.
Compatible extensions:
Extensions are the one thing that has been on the internet for a while, but haven’t received the hype they deserve. Could be that the developers refused to work enough on them. The extensions are an easy way, almost like a setting, that could help us get the job done in the desired way. The extensions are like guardians, that help you when you need them, but are silent most of the time. When you need something, these appear right there, and give all you want. If you still don’t understand how the extensions work, take the example of Grammarly. Grammarly would not pop up any kind of a notification, but would silently tell you when you have committed an error. Such is the kind of help these extensions can do when you need them.
Mobile web:
This is one thing that one needs to concentrate on more. As we’ve discussed earlier, mobile usage has taken a hike and is now more widely used than the desktop internet users. This hike isn’t coming down anytime. So, one needs to concentrate on its mobile version as well, if one needs to stand in the market. Mobiles are handy and easy to use, as compared to opening a system and waiting for it to start. With the growing need for shorter techniques, mobile usage seems to be the easiest way out for such requirements.
Single page websites:
This is a new trend in the field of websites. This is being acclaimed by many experts as the future of website development. A single page, where you can find everything you searched fo, and a navigation tool that takes you to different parts in that particular page, makes it even easier for you to navigate and save yourself the trouble of scrolling down again and again. This, probably, is the kind of website people would love to go to, if their requirement for multiple pages is low – A short and sweet page that has everything that’s needed.
Artificial Intelligence support:
Chatbots are the next big thing in the field of website development. As the time zones are different, there’s no time limit for the queries that the customers come up with. To tackle situation as such, one thing you can do is influx manpower that can communicate with the customers all day and night – anytime they need. This would cost them millions of bucks. To avoid such heavy investments, there’s one thing these websites or industries could do. They can bring the chatbots into action. Artificial intelligence is one thing that’s been acclaimed by everyone and should be implemented in multiple locations to make life easier, at the same time, save time and money.
Flash to HTML5:
This is something almost all the websites have been doing. If you’ve not done it yet, then this is your time to do it without any further delay. Flash is not supported by mobile devices, which leads to a disturbance of about 51% to internet users. That would cost you a lot of traffic. Using flash for HTML5 isn’t the right option after all.
I’m sure there must be multiple other ways in which the websites can be developed, but these are a few of those foolproof methods that are supposed to be implemented, in order to stay rooted in this race of constant upgradation.
Have you ever wondered why content writing is considered to be such a big thing? Before going to the tips let me just brief you the importance of content writing. Content writing has taken the world of marketing by storm. How? I’ll tell you! I’ll also tell you how content writing would help you in your business.
Content writing for business:
You’re a website who has just started and don’t have much of a brand recognition. What are your ways of familiarising your brand with the people? or getting more clients for your business? There are ways like having your video go viral but the chances of getting such videos, related to your business, are quite low. In this scenario, the best way to grab the attention of online fanatics is content writing. A good content writing is a direct indication of the kind of website you’re running. Higher the quality of the content higher is the chances of attracting the clients towards your business.
Source: Hubspot
As you can see from the above picture how important it is for an organization to keep blogging, other than just concentrating on their own product.
Content has an incredibly strong grip on culture formation. Content writing not only helps in the free marketing for your websites, but it also brings the traffic to your website. Traffic stats are important in showing the kind of recognition you have in the world of internet and it simultaneously shows how seriously you take your business. It shows the potential clients the relevance to their field of work and how diversified you are. It is a way of convincing the hearts of the visitors and showing how good you’re at it.
Not just that, we understand how bad one needs to spend on website maintenance and for the very same reason, a good ROI is something anyone could use. The better you are, the better advertisements you attract. So let’s not delay anymore and just get to the tips how you can improve your content writing.
All the tips you needed to stand out in 2018:
Things to do:
Make sure the content is relevant to your website and your business.
Plan it out rather than just jumping on it. Find all the relevant websites that could help you in this process.
Take it slow, don’t rush. Understand every little situation and how the world of content writing works.
A good title is the one that attracts the attention of your customers. Try a catchy one!
A trendy topic is always the one to go for.
Stick to the point, don’t dwell from one direction to the other. Know your job and execute it accordingly.
Understand your potential customers and what they actually need.
Produce quality content, don’t go with all the quantity tips. If your content doesn’t have enough quantity, try to finish it with a good quality rather than going behind the quantity theory.
Pictures and infographics are something you should never forget to put. Infographics are an easy way for the reader to understand the story of the article.
Understand the statistics and work on it! Analyzing any situation shows how thorough you are and how strong you are on your point
Use attractive images and the most relevant ones to make it easier for the visitor to read.
Kill the ideas of using any foolproof methods. The more genuine and honest you are the more traffic you’re going to get
Always credit the websites if you’ve borrowed some information or images from them as it’s their stuff, let’s just appreciate them a little. That’s all they ask for.
Google has multiple ways of listing your content on top, so don’t go on searching for different tricks, rather just concentrate on what you need to do and what you’re good at and the traffic would flow on its own.
Content writing is one part and standing up for what you say there is another. As I said in one of the previous posts, do what you say and say only what you can actually do. No fake promises or fake content should be entertained.
Come up with innovative ideas, the ideas that catch the eyes of people.
Write in a way that even if the content is simple it still get its attention.
Your content might not garner enough views, likes or comments in the initial stage but sooner or later it’ll get all the hype that it deserves. Good things are never gone unseen.
A little humour never killed anyone, so even though if it’s a business website, you can still make some unprofessional healthy humour in order to bust off some stress.
Maintain your website with an impression that it’s a one-stop place for reading, and also for all the information that they need in this field.
Last but not the least, enjoy your work, it’ll surely reflect back on your article!
Things you need to avoid:
Don’t try to be so diversified that your website loses its authenticity
You are never supposed to write it clumsy as it’ll only keep visitors from visiting your website
Blackhat methods are something to stay far away from! Don’t indulge yourself in activities like key stuffing or multiple backlinking, as it would only hamper the image you’ve been trying to create all this while.
Don’t forget crediting or providing the sources from where the information has been gathered, or it may lead to some serious troubles.
Good grammar is never a sore to the eyes, so avoid making any grammatical errors.
Don’t restrict yourself to few articles. Write as many articles as you can so one doesn’t have to go to any other website for further information.
In the process of looking for attention, don’t go and share the article everywhere, rather concentrate on one particular social website. It’ll keep you from looking desperate.
As far as my experience with the article writing goes, I think these tips would be enough for any beginner to come out with an impressive article. You might think this is a huge list, will I be able to remember all of this? Well, I went through the same phase, I collected the tips from various websites and listed them down. A momentary look at these tips would show how well you’ve improved day by day.
Once you’re done with these tips, I’d recommend you to go through the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques. That’s what you need if you want to place yourself well above the rest i.e., you’ll be ranked higher in the appearance of results, when someone searches on the same topic in google.
Here’s a link if you want to learn further about SEO: How the Local SEO helps in the growth and visibility of company?
If you want a professional to handle the SEO part for you, here’s a glance as to how we could help you out in this scenario: SERVICES FOR SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION
Well, to begin with, I’d like to tell there’s always a reason why I chose my words the way I do. There’s a pretty good reason why I used the word millennials. It’s because people in that age gap has been ruling over every social media. Whether if it is Instagram or Facebook or Snapchat, you name it. This makes them stay longer hours over the phone and that’s where the right companies make the most of!
Credits: comScore
Mobile marketing is a big thing because it’s something that one can’t get easily rid of. So when you see an ad on tv, you can just skip the channel or go, do something else. But on a mobile phone, it’s like you’re stuck to it. You hold them with both your hands and enthusiastically watch whatever you wanted to. A few seconds of ads wouldn’t make you skip to some other app. So, you tend to stick with the same application! That makes mobile marketing one of the most efficient one.
So, what are the different types of mobile marketing that we usually see around?
SMS Marketing:
Well, I don’t think anyone is alien to this kind of marketing. Every mobile user is familiar with all those annoying texts we get. Sometimes they cross the line and set multiple texts that we can’t really take. But what do we do? We still read all those messages in fear of missing out on some important messages. Haha! that’s a win for the advertisers and that’s how SMS marketing is still a big thing in the marketing industry. According to a survey, about 68% of the major companies still think that SMS marketing is a huge boon for the marketing of any company. It’s also an easier mode of communication between a company and its customers. So yeah, it’s here to stay!
MMS Marketing:
Well, this kind of marketing is quite popular in the western and north Asian countries but not really in countries like India. Does that make it any less important? Nope! It’s still as important as advertising on websites for multiple companies. Marketing through image, videos and audio is better than a text any day, so would you really expect brands to stop utilizing this easy to access and straight to the customer feature? A strict no! So this is one of the great ways of brands to endorse their new features and updates.
Advertisements on applications:
One more annoying thing in our daily lives but still can we resist? Almost 80% of the applications are filled with such kind of advertisements. Sometimes they block the work you’ve been doing and sometimes they don’t. These are usually found in the applications where you’re not asked to paid or if you’re using a free version of the application. It’s a way for developers to encash and get a good ROI(Return On Investment).
Advertisements on games:
Have you ever played a game on your mobile phones and once you finish a level or your character gets killed somewhere and suddenly an advertisement pops up! It takes about a minute or less of time but feels like ages. In that boring moment, all you could do is wait for the advertisement to finish. That is when they catch your eye and make you download the application.
QR codes:
You must have been to inox or PVR. If you have, you must have noticed some black and white rectangle boxes in the front of your seat. It’s the QR code. It’s an easy way for someone to visit a website and make a purchase. This feature is essential as one can’t go on typing the whole link.
Proximity-based Marketing:
The balance messages you get or momentary telecommunication ads you get as a pop up on your phone, come under this kind of marketing! These are not as annoying, as they don’t stay on your screen for long but yeah they could pop up while you’re in the middle of something important. Hence, these kinds of advertisements are not fondly encouraged.
Voice Mail:
This again isn’t found often in Indian marketing but western countries get a handful of these. To be honest I’ve never experienced one of these but in my knowledge, reading from other sources I’ve come to understand that this can get annoying but still is quite productive for the advertising companies.
Telephonic Marketing:
Remember a few years ago when the advertising companies had the similar number as that of any phone number in India. Those were one irritating time in the field of telephonic marketing. You expect someone to call in order to talk something important and all of a sudden all you get is a call from a customer marketing executive. Since then the rules have changed and the marketing agencies had to stick to a certain pattern of numbers that could be easily figured out by the customers and would refuse to pick up or just cut the call.
What are its benefits?
These days a large fraction of the population has been accessing the contents over the internet through mobile phones. The portability helps us in using the internet anywhere and anytime. Increasing number mobile users lead to an increase of usage of internet and other contact modes. This eventually leads to the hike in Mobile marketing. Here are some reasons that would explain the importance of mobile marketing in these days:
1. On the go services:
People love to do things that are done in no time. They often look for service providers who could meet their needs and help them fulfil their requirements. A company can contact a user via mobile marketing techniques. Even a customer can easily send his/her feedback instantly.
2. Mobile is an undetachable part of us:
The only thing that we hold with us all the time is our mobile phone. For every little thing, the first thing you take out of your pockets is your mobile phone.
3. Your contact details are used by the stores:
Multiple stores that you might visit on a daily basis. They tend to use your mobile phone details to make sure they’re connected with you. This increases the customer brand relationship too.
4. Mobile search index is a primary choice of rankings:
Google makes website search engine rankings based on the mobile searches. More than the system based search results, mobile-based are preferred. This makes sure the users get a better view on both the kind of devices.
5. Importance of Mobile advertisement
Advertising on mobile sites or directly to mobile seems more effective in marketing.
Bottomline:
So I guess this is quite enough why mobile marketing is still the most burning way of marketing and is going to hold its fire on for quite some time!
You must have come across multiple push notifications on your mobile phones. These are the kind of notifications that appear on your phone even if you don’t open any application. Push notifications are one of the big things in the field of digital marketing. This is one of those ways where the right audience can be reached and then attract them in the best possible way. As the concentration would be on the screen, most of the readers would give a read before closing it. So let’s just get down to few tips and things not to do while using a push notification.
Targeting the right audience:
Push notifications are supposed to be customized in such a way that it meets the requirements of the user. If there are too many irrelevant notifications, users tend to lose interest in reading these push notifications anymore. User’s interest is what’s going to drive your business. Keep understanding the interests of the user.
A right time:
Due to the time difference between different countries, most people often lose the track of time which leads to an improper timing of notifications. This eventually leads to turning off of notifications and not opening it even when there’s a requirement. Hence, customer or user’s comfort is never to be taken for granted as they are the key factors in any business.
Landing page:
Every notification should lead to a landing page when clicked upon. Push notifications used to be used only for conveying information, but since the development of the internet, the whole scenario has changed. People can now visit the pages by just a click on the notification. So, make sure your notification not only has the information but it should also lead to a source destination.
Not too many:
As the first thing to keep in mind while sending push notification is to not let the user be annoyed, make sure that the user doesn’t face a hard time receiving notifications. Let’s consider the same in our case, whenever you receive a notification from an application 10 times a day, you most probably tend to ignore it no matter how interesting they try for it to sound. That’s what happens when you send multiple notifications in a day. Try and reduce the number of notifications to as low as possible and only convey the important messages.
Keep it short and interesting:
The notifications you send has a high probability of being ignored if it’s sent in a cliched way. Understand your niche customers and show them what interests them. A short and interesting text with images and the right keywords are the basis of a good push notification. These things will go a long way in helping the customers establishing a good rapport with the notifications from that particular brand.
Know the right timing:
Before sending any notifications, keep in view that you do not send any coming soon notifications if the period is long. That would lead to loss of interest. If you keep sending one after the other, A proper planning and ideas should be implemented before sending any text to the user. For instance, if you send a customer regarding a grand sale, in the coming month, he or she would stop looking at the notification with an intuition that there’s a long way to go for it. Eventually, they tend to lose interest.
Easy to find on the web:
Make sure any notification that is being sent, has a well-phrased information. Keywords are the most important part as even if someone skips out on the notification and if someone accidentally closes the one they wanted to read, they can search the same on the internet. That’s the kind of power these keyboards possess.
Be particular about spellings and grammar:
This is like one of the most important parts of any content. A good phrase with no spelling mistakes is more than enough to separate you from about 90% of the other notifications. Your notifications have very high chances of being ignored if the customer finds even one deliberate grammatical error. This might seem like a petty issue but is sure the one to consider.
Missing out on data:
Never miss out on data when you are on a mission to get the maximum audience. Attract them and have them provide you with all the details. This can later be utilized in understanding the customer and their likes. It’s ok to have the data as long as you don’t misuse it for your own beneficiaries.
Testing and optimization should be done to understand the work:
This is the last stage of all the things to remember. Start testing the notifications first before sending them out. You need to understand what kind of a psychological influence this has over the other things. You can even conduct a survey to understand the behaviour and reactions of particular notifications and if you are positive about the results. Send it out.
