Attention Getting

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Category: My Marketing Advice (Page 11 of 26)

How to Increase Ecommerce Holiday Sales

August 9, 2018 /

by Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing

If you haven’t started preparing for holiday sales Etsy shop owners need to get going! Increase your holiday sales with my 2019 Holiday Sales Planner for Etsy Shops. It is jam-packed with 23 pages of my tips, tricks, SEO search phrases, planner pages, worksheets, examples and strategies to get the most out of your holiday sales.

Below are some ideas to inspire you!

5 Ideas to Increase E-commerce Holiday Sales

1. Starting in September (or right now if you wish) include a flyer and/or coupon in all customer packages encouraging customers to come back to your store for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, coupons and offers.

2. Use popular search phrases for various holiday buying occasions in your titles and tags, if they apply, such as white elephant gifts, stocking stuffers, secret Santa gifts, dirty Santa gifts, advent calendar fillers and 12 days of Christmas gifts.

3. Add holiday theme photos (like I did below) to your regular product photos as Etsy loves to use these types of images on their social media pages and on their home page. You can purchase these types of backgrounds on Etsy or Creative Market. 

4. I highly recommend that you run Etsy Promoted Listings during the peak gift buying time of October 14th to December 23rd. Only go as late as December 23rd if you have priority shipping and can get those orders there next day.

5. August is the time to be sending out your submissions for holiday gift guides for print magazines. When emailing out pitches, the email subject line should read: “Product Submission for 2019 Holiday Gift Guides”. Send out pitches to blogs for their gift guides in early October. 

Want to Read More?

© 2018-2019 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

A Simple Trick to Increase Your Online Sales Conversion Rate

February 17, 2018 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

When you sell online you always have to deal with buyers’ apprehension to buying from you. When I do a critique of someone’s online store (Etsy, Shopify, etc) I always make sure that the shop is doing all the things that create customer confidence and, in turn, this helps to raise their sales conversion rate.

The One Thing You Need to Do

One thing I always suggest for Etsy shops is to add this line at the end of each listing:

“If you have any questions regarding this item, please hit the “Message Seller” below and I will get back to you within 24 hours”.

Why It Works

When a customer knows that you are open to them reaching out to you, this right away gives them a sense of confidence. Then, when they do reach out to you, you now have an opportunity to engage with them as you would with face to face sales. Once a customer has engaged with you, they are so much more likely to purchase from you.

This tactic has worked with my own business. 9 times out of 10 when a potential customer asks me a question about my marketing services or downloads, they end up purchasing from me, so it is worth your while!

If you use the Sell on Etsy app, you are notified whenever you get a convo so that you can respond quickly.

If you would like to know how my Etsy Shop Critique can help your shop, just send me an email at attentiongetting[at]gmail.com and I will get back to you asap!

Want to Read More?

© 2018 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. 

What National Day is Today? The Trend of National Days

November 27, 2017 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

So what national day is today you ask? For a few years now, I have been telling you about the growing popularity of “national days” on social media. Some are fun, some are silly and most are popular due to the fact that a major brand typically jumps on board to take advantage of the trending day, making it even more popular on social media (i.e. Starbucks and National Coffee Day). But, they can be good for promoting your online shop.

10 Most Popular National Days

If you are using national days to help get visibility for your social media accounts or for your business, then you may be curious as to which national days are the most popular. According to Google searches, here is what I found the most popular searched national days are, in order of popularity:

    1. National Girlfriend Day (August 1)
    2. National Boyfriend Day (October 3)
    3. National Dog Day (August 26)
    4. National Donut Day (June 1)
    5. National Best Friends Day (June 8)
    6. National Sibling Day (April 10)
    7. National Ice Cream Day (3rd Sunday in July)
    8. National Puppy Day (March 23)
    9. National Pancake Day (March 12)
    10. National Coffee Day (October 1)

So if you only feel like jumping on the “national day” content band wagon for a few, these are good ones to go with.

National Days Rising in Popularity

Furthermore, there are also national days that started to get some traction last year and may see more interest this year. The top 10 rising national days (in terms of Google searches) are:

    1. National Lipstick Day (July 29)
    2. National Burrito Day (1st Thursday in April)
    3. National Cheeseburger Day (September 18)
    4. National Tequila Day (July 24)
    5. National Wine Day (May 25)
    6. National Margarita Day (February 22)
    7. National Kissing Day (April 13)
    8. National Beer Day (April 7)
    9. National Pizza Day (February 9)
    10. National Taco Day (October 4)

You can see how popular food and drink appears to be when it comes to national days, great for restaurants. National Lipstick Day is a great opportunity for any online shop selling cosmetics, and National Wine Day is an ideal way to promote wine glasses, wine racks, t-shirts with wine quotes and so forth.

Quirky National Days

There are typically anywhere from one to five different things to celebrate on any given day. Here are some of the more obscure and quirky ones:

    • National Static Electricity Day (January 9th). Not sure what would make an interesting post for this day other than to promote dryer sheets.
    • National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day (March 11th). Can you think of anything more random? Not sure who started this day, the oatmeal brands, the nut farmers or the waffle restaurants.
    • National Chicken Lady Day (November 4th). I guess you would celebrate chickens and the women who love them.
    • National Grab Some Nuts Day (August 3rd). Not sure what you want to do on this day, but there are a lot of national days that have to do with nuts.

National Days For Business Promotion

There are a lot of national days that are ideal to promote your online shop and take advantage of the trending hashtag, such as:

    • January 6 – National Technology Day is a great opportunity to promote gadgets and gadget accessories like phone cases, stands, headphones, etc.
    • January 8 – National Bubble Bath Day is a great time to promote your bath products.
    • January 13 – National Sticker Day is a chance to market your sticker shop.
    • January 14 – National Dress Up Your Pet day is a great opportunity to push your pet products.
    • January 31 – National Inspire Your Heart with Art Day is a good opportunity to promote your art shop.
    • February 7 – National Send a Card to a Friend Day is a good opportunity to promote your greeting card shop.
    • February 18 – National Drink Wine Day is a chance to promote any wine related products like wine glasses and decanters.
    • February 20 – National Love Your Pet Day is a great time to promote anything pet related.
    • February 27 – National Retro Day is an awesome opportunity for vintage shops (as is March 2nd, National Old Stuff Day)
    • March 6 – National Dress Day is a good opportunity to promote your clothing shop.
    • March 8 – International Women’s Day is perfect to promote all products aimed at women.
    • March 11 – National Promposal Day is your chance to promote anything that a girl or guy needs for prom (along with National Prom Day on March 31).
    • March 16 – National Quilting Day is a time to promote your quilts.
    • March 19 – National Jewel Day is a good opportunity to promote your jewelry shop.
    • March 21 – National Fragrance Day a good time for you perfume sellers.
    • March 22 – National Puppy Day is always an opportunity for all puppy products.

More Opportunities

Therefore, how does your business take advantage of national days such as National Taco Day (October 4th) or National Beer Day (April 7th). When businesses love to retweet, repost and reblog compliments. As such, this is your chance to mention your favorite fast food taco restaurant (and tag them) on your social media site, or your favorite brand of beer and they just might mention your shoutout on their social media sites. This exposes your business to all of their followers.

What National Day is Today?

So, what national day is today? November 26th has two national days – National Cake Day and Cyber Monday (not technically a national day, but it will be trending big on social media).

What National Day is Tomorrow?

Tomorrow is the National Day of Giving also known as Giving Tuesday, so both hash tags will be trending. This holiday always follows Cyber Monday and it is all about giving back. Therefore, you will want to post any charitable endeavours that your online shop or business is doing.

Want to Read More?

© 2019 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. What National Day is Today.

A Hot PR Tip if You Sell Dog Products

October 12, 2017 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

Did you realize that 2018 is the Year of the Dog, according to the Chinese New Year, which starts February 16th. So, if you sell dog products – or even products that feature dogs such as throw pillows, t-shirts, etc. – then you should be pitching your products as part of a story idea for “Celebrating Year of the Dog” to print publications NOW, as they work on issues a few months in advance. You can pitch to blogs in late November.

Not sure how to write a pitch? If you wish for me to write a winning one for you, I do offer a Publicity Pitch Writing Service and I have a pretty good track record. I’ve written pitches that have gotten my customers into Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz.com, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, DogMilk, Emmaline Bride, just to name a few.

If you don’t have any products featuring dogs, you may want to consider adding one to your shop if applicable, just to take advantage of this publicity opportunity that could last all year long.

© 2017 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

Coffee Shop Marketing Strategy Plan

July 12, 2017 /

Do you own a coffee shop and are wondering how to drive more traffic to it? I have just the solution? My 12-Month Coffee Shop Marketing Strategy Plan gives you easy tactics to follow for each month of the year. Below I cover January so you can see what it is all about.

January Coffee Shop Marketing Plan

COFFEE SHOP PUBLICITY TACTICS
  • Email a story pitch to Eater to be included in their cities feature, “Essential Coffee Shops in {Your City}”
  • Check and submit daily to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) requests. 
COFFEE SHOP ADVERTISING TACTICS
  • Add your coffee shop to LocalEats.com
  • Add your coffee shop to Zomato.com
COFFEE SHOP SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TACTICS
  • Post a photo of a busy morning at your coffee shop for #manicmonday.
  • Post a photo of a #sunrise with your coffee shop in foreground.
  • Post a favorite local blog every Sunday for #sundayblogshare (tag the blog so they repost). 
  • Post a This or That type post i.e. Dark Roast or Light Roast? #thisorthat #coffeeaddict.
  • Post a carousel of your favorite coffee mugs and give a #shoutout to the stores. 
  • Post a #freecoffee offer for your gourmet blend for #nationalgourmetcoffeeday on January 18th.
  • Post a #quote every Friday that has to do with coffee for #fridayfeeling #goodmorning #coffeetime #coffeebreak.
  • Set up a YouTube channel or TikTok and post a video/reel of your #barista making one of this week’s specials. 
  • Comment daily on the Instagram and Facebook posts of local media, local sports teams & popular local businesses to get seen by your local audience.
COFFEE SHOP EMAIL MARKETING TACTICS
  • Create a free email signature (use WiseStamp.com) and include a linkable banner to your coffee shop’s website, links to your social media sites and your latest blog post. 
  • Email your customers your winter theme menu as well as any early bird Valentine’s day offers and any upcoming events in the shop. 
  • Change up your email opt-in incentive to include a free one-page printable calendar for the new year clearly labeled with your coffee shop’s name and url, as a frequent reminder. 
COFFEE SHOP CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS
  • If you haven’t already, create a blog to drive traffic to your shop. You can then circulate your blog posts on social media as well as on blog sharing sites like BLOGLOVIN’ and BLOGARAMA even if your posts are something as simple as mentioning events going on in your city each weekend, such as “What to Do in {Your City} This Weekend”. It also gives you a reason to email your customers weekly. 
COFFEE SHOP SALES & PROMOTIONS TACTICSCoffee Shop Marketing Strategy Plan
  • Comment daily on the latest blog posts of popular local news media and magazines.
  • Create a rewards card by linking the points accumulation to various things i.e. 20 points for buying a coffee, 20 points for downloading your app, 5 points for leaving a review, 15 points for signing up for your email, 10 points for posting a photo of your coffee shop (with shoutout) to Instagram, etc. 
  • Offer a travel mug that has your coffee shop logo and address as part of your rewards program to garner free advertising.

Isn’t my coffee shop marketing plan awesome? And this is just for January. Get the entire 12 months by downloading my 12-Month Coffee Shop Marketing Plan today!

Also Read: Fun and Easy Local Marketing Idea

© 2023 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Coffee Shop Marketing Strategy Plan.

Not Making Sales? Time for a Marketing Checkup

June 27, 2017 /

time for a marketing checkupHave sales at your business stalled? Then maybe it’s time for a marketing checkup.

SEO

When was the last time you updated your keywords and search phrases? The way people search is always changing, particularly since a lot of people are now speaking their searches into their phones as opposed to typing them. So try typing your main product word, i.e. “dog collars” into the search boxes of Google, Amazon, Etsy, even Pinterest and see what types of searches fill down, and then update your keywords accordingly.

Advertising

You have to advertise your business as it is still the number one way to drive traffic that actually converts into a sale. The money you invest you will make back and then some, so don’t fear it. A good rule is to make sure that advertising costs are no more than 25% of the revenue the ad generates. You have a variety of options Google ads to social media ads to online or print ads. If sales have stalled it is time to try at least one and measure the results.

Publicity

If you are not sending out at least one publicity pitch a week, you are missing out on free traffic. Make a list of all of the blogs that your target market reads and pitch the blogger a story idea that would include your product. Start with the smaller blogs as they are more receptive to submissions. Need a refresher? Read my blog post, “How to Pitch Your Products to Editors“.

Email Marketing

What about all those people who have previously purchased from you? Maybe it’s time to get in touch with a special offer (buy one, get one half off), seasonal sale, a giveaway or just to show new product releases.

Social Media

Which social media site brings you the most traffic? Then double your “posting” and “following” efforts on this site and you will likely double your traffic. Maybe there is a social media site you haven’t tried yet, like Instagram. Now is the time to see what traffic it can drive. If you can’t come up with interesting content ideas try my 365 Social Media Ideas Calendar, which gives you creative content ideas for every day of the year.

 

© 2017 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Time for a Marketing Checkup

How to Maximize Sales for Every Gift Buying Occasion

May 3, 2017 /

by Gail Oliver, Ecommerce Marketing Consultant

If you want your online shop to succeed, you have to advertise. There is no way around it. Your competitors are advertising, so you need to as well. I am not sure why so many shops fight it when it is one of the most effective and proven ways to drive traffic and sales.

Now, I also believe in spending your ad dollars wisely, especially if they are limited. Therefore, if your shop does the best during the high gift buying times of the year, such as Valentines Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas and so forth, then save your advertising dollars for these occasions to get the most bang for your marketing budget.

The key is to look at when people start searching and when those searches peak. Below are my recommendations for when you should run ads to maximize your sales opportunities as well as cash in on those early shoppers. Be sure to bookmark this page for reference.

Teachers Gifts                       

Searches start in November and reach their peak in December. They start again in early May and peak in late May, with some searches still in June, but searches are highest in December overall, so we can assume that Christmas gifts for teachers are more popular than end of year gifts.

RUN YOUR ADS: mid November to mid December; all of May.

Valentines Gifts                       

Searches start in late December right after Christmas and reach their peak the first week of February.

RUN YOUR ADS: late December to February 9th. 

Mother’s Day Gifts

Searches start around Valentines Day and then hit their first peak mid March, likely for the UK Mother’s Day. Searches start up again mid April and peak the first week of May.

RUN YOUR ADS: mid February to mid March; mid April to the first week of May.

Graduation Gifts                       

Searches start in early April, peak in mid May, with still some searches in June.

RUN YOUR ADS: early April to first week of June.

Father’s Day Gifts

Searches actually start in April as the second wave of people who are searching for a Mother’s Day gift likely decide to look for a Father’s Day gift at the same time. Searches peak by mid June.

RUN YOUR ADS: mid April to first week of June.

Christmas Gifts

Searches start in October, grow through November, but forget about what you heard about Black Friday. December is still when searches for Christmas gifts is the highest (those last minute shoppers).

RUN YOUR ADS: mid October to December 20th. 

Wedding Gifts

Searches for wedding gifts are popular all year long but particularly strong in December, November and May (in that order).

RUN YOUR ADS: early November to last week of December; all of May.

LATEST CUSTOMER REVIEW

“Some wonderful ideas to put in place and I know that in time, Gail’s advice will pay off in spades. Many thanks!”. Jill, FantailsandFeet on Etsy.

© 2017 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

My Latest Product SEO Tips

April 12, 2017 /

product SEO TipsHere are some of my latest product SEO tips.

When was the last time you researched how people are searching for your products? People are actually getting very specific about how they search, no longer just entering two or three keyword phrases but sometimes 5 to 10 keyword searches, possibly because they can enter the search phrase via an audio command as opposed to having to type it in.

A great way to find out how people might be currently looking for your types of products is to go to the most popular marketplace, Amazon, and use their auto-complete feature to see the searches that fill down.

Long Tail Product Search Phrases

For example, look at these popular very long-tail searches I found on Amazon:

  • Dog toys for aggressive chewers
  • Cute desk accessories for women gold
  • Galaxy s7 edge case with screen protector
  • Best hair growth products for women that actually work
  • Leggings for women with designs
  • Nose ring studs l shaped gold
  • One piece swimsuit with words for women
  • Elephant shower curtain black and white
  • Baby girl clothes 3-6 months summer dress
  • Tapestry wall hanging black and white tree

As you can see from the searches above people are getting very specific, likely because they don’t have a lot of time to look through search results. They know what they are looking for and they want to find it quickly.product seo tips

You can use these long tail search phrases to your advantage as they are so specific offering less competition and a more likely buyer. It can also help you to see the type of features customers are looking for, in case you don’t offer these in your current product offerings. It may also help you to position your products differently, based on consumer needs.

Etsy SEO Tutorial

If you need help mastering Etsy SEO, check out my best selling Etsy SEO Guide.

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.online marketing consultant

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

I also have a wide variety of business & marketing downloads you can check out at my Shopify store.

More SEO Posts

 

 

 

 

© 2017 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Product SEO Tips

Easy Ways to Expand Your Product Line

April 4, 2017 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

Are you feeling stagnant and wondering how you can take your current design talents and use them for other products? You would surprised at how you could easily venture into other, potentially more lucrative markets.

For example, let’s say you’re a jewelry designer. Take a look at this $1,200 beaded chandelier below, and see how your talents would lend nicely to a product of this nature.

Are you a wood worker? I bet you never thought you could find success in the popular market for nursery night lights, but it is actually quite simple if you simply adhere your wooden design to the night-light base. The ones below sell for $32 each.

Are you a painter but canvas, paper and walls are getting a little boring for you? How about trying the trendy water bottle market, like this $38 art water bottle below?

Maybe you work with marble and you’re getting a little tired of just making cutting boards. Then how about a sleek and classic $98 marble shelf?

Do you knit or crochet and want to avoid the season lull once sweater season is over? Two great ways to use your skills are a $285 hammock or a $210 dream catcher.

So, I hope these ideas have inspired you, if you are finding that you are just not making it in your current market. Another thing that might help you is my Product Consultation, where I inspire you with fresh ideas based on market demand, current trends and unique offerings that will set your business apart.

© 2017 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

How to Market a Product Instead of Your Shop

March 20, 2017 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

A lot of online stores spend their time trying to market and promote their shop as a whole, but sometimes you can might be better to focus your efforts on marketing a specific product from your shop instead. It still brings traffic into your shop to sell what else you sell.

Getting Publicity for Your Product

It is much easier to get publicity on a product than on your shop as a whole. As I have said in the past, your best chance to get publicity for a product is if it is:

  • Quirky or Unusual – Example: Unicorn Dog Sweater
  • Timely or Seasonal – Example: Beauty and the Beauty Body Wash
  • Part of a Current Trend – Example: Pom Pom Sandals
  • Is a Hot Seller for You (the media likes to write about success stories)

If you are still not sure how to pitch your product to the media, be sure to see my Publicity Pitch Service. 

Advertising Your Product

Did you know that you can advertise a single product (not just your entire shop) as an Google Adwords ad? This is different than a Google Sponsored Product ad. An Google Adwords ad appears at the top or bottom of search results with a much more detailed description of your product, and in my experience, gets a better click-through.

Promoting Your Product on Social Media

If you are going to post one of your products on social media, you have to make it interesting or it will get lost in the noise of all the other people who simply post their products. For example, Nordstrom posting a pair of Prada shoes, but surrounding it with clovers to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. If you still can’t figure out how to get your products seen on social media, be sure to get my downloadable Social Media Plan.

So, if you have had no luck promoting your shop as a whole, try zeroing in on one product and see if it makes a difference. Be sure to see more of my products and services at:

© 2017. Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

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