Ecom Revolution
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May 16, 2013

Lights, Camera.. Transaction! How To Increase Your Website's Video Marketing Stickiness
Martin (Marty) Smith
In recent years, online video has evolved into a powerful marketing tool. Use the following guidelines in this Infographic to help fine tune your video-making endeavors and maximize your viewership.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Great infographic on increasing video stickiness from KISSmetrics. Video is a powerful tool for an ecommerce webstie, but beware. Video is so engaging it can lower conversions. Follow outline in this KISSmetric infographic to INCREASE conversions. 

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May 8, 2013

Social Media Growth, E-Commerce and the End of the Beginning [infographic]
Martin (Marty) Smith
Social Media And The Growth Of E-Commerce – infographic Did you know that e-commerce, which


Marty - I love this Infographic because it so sharly details how completely we've moved away from Ecommerce 1.0 and are immersed in Ecommere 2.0 (at least). The predictive and dynamic ecom 3.0 isn't far off so no resting even if this is the end of the beginning.

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Jennifer Jinright's curator insight, August 29, 2013 5:08 PM

Interesting. Wonder how far off and in which direction this will be when we look back in about 4 years
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May 8, 2013

SEO for Ecommerce - Training for SEO Games [Infographic]
Martin (Marty) Smith
You can’t win the SEO race without some basic training. Check out this in-depth infographic on ecommerce SEO to help you finish on top of the podium.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

SEO Games
Fun infographic. I tend to choose ONE keyword state (usually broad because exact is too depressing) and model from there. The important idea in SEO is consistency of approach. 

Consistency trumps accuracy when modeling. If you don't know a lot about SEO this infographic is a good introduction, fun too.  

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May 4, 2013

The Scoopit on Email Marketing [Infographic]
Martin (Marty) Smith
Looking for “The Scoop on Email Marketing”? ProMarketing Leads has created an infographic outlining just how important email marketing is for your
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Email Makes The Money
When I was a Director of Ecommerce email marketing produced the highest MARGIN (i.e. dollars to the bank) of any marketing channel by far. Email is under attack these days.

Email marketing is different and changing. Different because relevance is demanded so personas and segments are a must. Different because mobile devices increasingly curate email so your emails must look great on mobile AND be formed "mobile friendly".

Mobile friendly means:

* Strong visuals.
* Few words and less copy.
* Tease the click or tease the "keep for later".
* Strong offers and clear CTAs.


If you run an ecommerce website and are NOT email marketing and making subscriptions into your list your A priority I'd love to know what is :).M

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April 29, 2013

BrandRooming: Crystal Light Launches E-Commerce Site
Martin (Marty) Smith
Brandchannel - always branding. always on. (Crystal Light Launches Own E-Commerce Site #ecommerce #online #retail http://t.co/rcKrIIVc5t)
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Add BrandRooming To Showrooming

Pity the poor brick and mortar retailer. They've been battling showrooming and now Kraft launches their own ecommerce website.

Once major brands launch their own e-commerce platforms the end of the beginning is upon us. What about channel conflict? How will the Walmarts and Targets of the world feel about competing with Krafts ShopCrystalLight.com? 

How will big box retailers take to "brandrooming"?

If I were Walmart.com I would take Crystal Light off my website and, depending on the profits, off store shelves. I think the reason Kraft isn't worried about this is they must have run this idea by their key accounts first.

The backroom agreement is probably to keep the price of Crystal higher on their platform than through its distribution partners. That is a deal I would have done if I was Kraft too since Crystal Light calls out for contests, gamification and User Generated Content (UGC(.

With the right contests and gamification layer Kraft's ecom customers won't care about price as long as the price is in striking distances of the discounters.  

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April 23, 2013

FlowChart Infographics Are COOL: Best Science Fiction Books Example #StealThis
Martin (Marty) Smith
Flowchart infographics always grab my attention because they require the reader to interact with the infographic. Helping guide your decisions and choices which
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Flow Chart Infographics Rock
This much information coming at once feels overwhelming. I took a second pass at this "Flow Chart Infographic" and it is pretty cool. Start by answering the question below the NPR logo (the two green circles) and then follow where the branches lead.

Pretty cool if someone crazy feeling at frist.  #StealThis for your Ecom site. 

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April 21, 2013

Anatomy of Great Homepage E-Commerce Website Design
Martin (Marty) Smith

Great E-Commerce Homepage Design Tips

Three concepts are critical to great e-commerce website design:
* Golden Triangle
* People Sight Lines.

* Calls To Action.

Tis post shares specific examples of each of these Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for great conversion and engagement in ecommerce website design.

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RDV Weekly's curator insight, March 7, 2014 4:55 PM

Pure design-based conversion factors. A quick dive into the psychological mind of your customer, and how to play to that knowledge.
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April 20, 2013

SEO and The New Now via ScentTrail Marketing
Martin (Marty) Smith

There is a new sheriff in town. There are two new sheriffs in town an angry Penguin and a pining penguin.


Google's algorithm changes add gasoline to a fire that was already burning - marketing in REAL TIME or The New Now!

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April 19, 2013

E-commerce SEO Tips {Infographic}
Martin (Marty) Smith
If you have an e-commerce website, it is most important for you to grab the attention of lots of visitors and turn them into potential customers. To attract huge traffic on your e-Commerce website,...
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Helpful and well stated New SEO tips in this infographic. 

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April 16, 2013

Reviews Are Critical User Generated Content: Review of Reviews [Infographic + Marty Tips]
Martin (Marty) Smith
It’s not even just e-commerce sites that allow reviews either. Local Directory sites allow customers to review businesses, whether the business encourages them or not.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Ecom & Reviews Birds of a Feather
You can't run a successful ecommerce website without reviews. I would go further and say you can run a successful #Ecom website without User Generated Content (UGC). Excellent infographic explains why.

 

5 Tips For How To GET Reviews & UGC

* Gamify - provide social capital as reinforcement.

* Glorify - Reviewer of the month and other accolades.

* Review Reviewers - ask community to rate reviewers, brand the best of them.

* Contests - make becoming a reviewer a hard won prize like Amazon.

* Give 'em a Job - once you find the 1% willing to contribute gives them a "job" and that will help recruit others in kind.

BTW, I don't agree that a negative review means your company is dead. I posted on how to turn negative reviews around not long ago:

 


Turn Negative Reviews Into Money
http://scenttrail.blogspot.com/2011/07/turn-negative-reviews-into-money.html

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April 12, 2013

21 Essential Ecommerce SEO Tips [Infographic]
Martin (Marty) Smith

Solid e-commerce SEO tips here especially tips #1, #3 and #13.

Martin (Marty) Smith:

Great tips here and easy to accomplish / fix. 

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April 9, 2013

DATA and Ecom Retailers Don't Play Well Together: New @Bronto Study
Martin (Marty) Smith
RSR and Bronto Software survey provides insights into use of consumer path-to-purchase data (New report provides insights into use of consumer path-to-purchase data http://t.co/ECoTzF6puK #retail...
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Ecom Retailers Need To Plug Holes, Make Money
Wow, this study from my favorite email platform (@Bronto) will blow your hair back. Plug even a few of these gapping holes and it could mean millions in sales for ecom retailers. 

Follow any two of the ideas in this study and ecommerce retailers could be using email marketing to profitably increase sales. Amazing with all the new shinny things how blocking and tackling is still the best place to MAKE MONEY NOW.

Great study and tips from Bronto. BTW, email is under pressure from mobile and hyper local, but still beyond valuable to ecommerce.  

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April 9, 2013

Magento Plans New Versions E-commerce Software [+ Transition = BUMPY]
Martin (Marty) Smith
Internet Retailer - Technology/E-commerce Platforms - Magento plans to introduce new versions of its e-commerce software (E-commerce Platforms - Magento plans to introduce new versions of its e-commerce software http://t.co/obc2CbAEj4...
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Good Time For A Magento Checkup
Magento is planing an extensive update and transitioning older versions o the software to newer promies to be a true pain in the you know where. Atlantic BT (http://www.atlanticbt.com ) recommends consulting a guide as transitions of this magnitude can cause issues.

Good time to have someone you trust look under your Magento HOOD and know how transition will impact your ecommerce website.  

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April 5, 2013

The Top 15 Apps For The New E-Commerce
Martin (Marty) Smith
:: By Mitchell Harper and Eddie Machaalani,Co-founders and Co-CEOs, Bigcommerce :: Statistics show that online shopping is growing rapidly — a trend that presents both opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs selling via websites.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

I would argue a few of these such as Bronto for Mail Chimp. A few I don't know since I left my job as an Ecommerce Director three years ago. Tools are what keeps any Ecom Director sane and there are some stellar tool recommendations here.

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April 2, 2013

How The Mobile Revolution Is Changing Retail | Visual.ly
Martin (Marty) Smith
The mobile revolution is changing the way retailers display and sell goods as well as where and how they interact with customers. As consumers embrace
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Mobile + Social = SMobile
Excellent infographic showing how ecom is being changed by mobile. There are several crtical "inside baseball" ideas not stated including:

* Must be FASTER.

* Nature of information is shifting (visual and video).

* CTA ergonomics changing (where are your thumbs?).

* Engagement is changing.


If you think of the phone as a game console you aren't too far wrong. Throw social media marketing and graph search into the mix and you have all the fuel for a retail revolution.

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March 31, 2013

Load Times WRONG Direction - Top Retail Sites Page Speed Study [Infographic]
Martin (Marty) Smith

If we don't stop building complicated calls into our web page we will forget the reason they are there in the first place - to convert. This excellent infogrpahic shows leading retail websites load times are going in the wrong direction.


Provides excellent information on baselines too. When in doubt, cut down on the Javascript and calls. Do you REALLY need that rollover or fancy plugin? Plugins can fight with eah other too causing hard to diagnose conflicts. When in doubt, keep it clean and simple to make more money.

Martin (Marty) Smith:

Page speed is critical to SEO and conversion and, as this infographic shows, page speeds are going in the wrong direction.

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March 30, 2013

Popup Nation - Why We Are About To Crowdsource Everything
Martin (Marty) Smith

Crowdsourcing's Marketing Secret

When I read Jeff Howe's Crowdsourcing: Why The Power of the Crowd Is Driving The Future of Business I missed the secret implication. The secret implication explored here is Popup Nation.

Popup Nation
Popup Nation is the removal of financial and cultural gatekeepers creating a new group of hotels, restaurants and books created by Andrew Keen's dreaded "cult of the amateur".

In fairness Keen's book was written in 2008 and that seems like a revolutionary lifetime ago. Today one thing is clear. We are about to crowdsouce everything.


This post explains WHY we will crowdsource everything soon and HOW crowdsource for fun and profit.

Martin (Marty) Smith:

Wrote this yesterday and it has had a lot of shares already.

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March 28, 2013

10 Design Tips For Winning Small Business Websites
Martin (Marty) Smith
10 Tips For Designing a Winning Small Business Website by Bill Ross of LinchpinSEO in Chicago
Martin (Marty) Smith:

+ Five More SMB Website Tips
Solid tips from my friend Bill Ross. Here are additions.

* Email Subscripton Form in prominent position.

* Social Shares.

* UGC (Comments, Reviews, Profiles).

* Feeds (News, Curation).

* VISUALS (Videos, Pictures, Graphics).

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March 27, 2013

WOM Is Not FREE: Digital Marketing's Most Misused Resource
Martin (Marty) Smith

Digital Marketing's Most Overlooked and Misused Resource is Word-of-Mouth (WOM).

Martin (Marty) Smith:

Cool Technorati infographic.

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March 22, 2013

Video Content Marketing: 4 Keys To An Effective Strategy
Martin (Marty) Smith
Businesses are flocking to video content marketing as an efficient and wickedly effective content tactic. But the focus on making the video often overshadows the marketing of it.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Excellent tips here on video marketing for business. Challenge BEGINS when video is created. Still need to market, Be aware of SEO and watch a set of KPIs that will inform, tweak and convert. 

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malek's curator insight, March 22, 2013 3:20 PM

a highly catching article
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March 21, 2013

The New Ecom: The Poetry of Material Things
Martin (Marty) Smith

Art Of The New Ecom
Doesn't this cool Tumblr feel like a new cool store? That is because it has an artists visual approach combined with a merchant's eye. Beautiful and strange like the new ecommerce :).

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Martin (Marty) Smith's curator insight, March 21, 2013 10:34 PM

SoLoMo Nightmare

I came home to see water seeping into my garage from my house. A leak in a downstairs half bath has done some serious damage and may be doing more now (if it is in the wall). 

I look for a plumber stating with Angie's list. Bad Experience because the search algorithm is stiff and pitching a strange set (probably those paying the freight to be at the top). Every plumber has an A review and putting in people I know about was only a fifty fifty shot to find anything at all. 

 Where Is The BEAUTY? FUN?
 I'm confused. We've got Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook and looking for a plumber is a hair's difference from using the yellow pages. I moved from Angie's LOST List to Google and Yelp reviews. 

If Angie's LOST List seems rigged and inauthentic Yelp and Google have no scale. I tweeted and asked friends on Facebook if anyone knew of a good plumber. My friend Kate saved the day with a great recommendation.

 

I Want A New Drug!

Here is the problem in my head we are already working in the predictive real time of Web 3.0, but the reality of this brutal plumber search makes me wonder why an army of startups isn't thinking about social reviews like the one Kate just provided. 

Social reviews can be very brief because they come from such trusted sources (friends). Kate should have been rewarded for her immediate and high quality thought. Instead her great idea disappeared into Facebook's either. Where is the tag cloud when you need it? 

I Want A New Drug!

Call me crazy but the process of finding a plumber should be beautiful. I'm using this beautiful Tumblr feed again, the Poetry Of Material Things to point out that a sad truth.


The problem is US. We lack the imagination to mashup scaled systems to produce, reward and scale a reviews / recommendation engine that provides beauty, immediacy and support. Why? Because we can, because we HAVE a new drug called the Internet. 

If you are a startup or so inclined and have already spent some mental cycles on this let's grab lunch. If I can't fund you I know people who can. Tell me the story of how looking for a plumber can be beautiful and fun and you have the proverbial million-dollar idea.  
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March 17, 2013

Why Etsy.com (Platform) Crushes RedEnvelope.com (Website)
Martin (Marty) Smith
Etsy had more page views in January that it did in December, which is pretty impressive, considering the December holiday rush.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Platforms Crush Websites
Etsy.com is a machine. They have 100M pages in Google and are one of my favorite examples for Platforms crushing Websites: http://scenttrail.blogspot.com/2011/09/internet-marketing-platforms-vs.html . 

Compare 100M to an old line gift retailer such as RedEnvelope.com's 22,000 pages in Google and you see the devastation a platform capable of generated User Generated Content (UGC) creates.  

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YDeveloper's comment, September 16, 2013 5:27 AM
Etsy is really a powerful tools. The reaction is reasonable.
YDeveloper's comment, September 16, 2013 5:29 AM
www.ydeveloper.com/e-smart-ecommerce-suite.html
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March 16, 2013

Top 5 Free WordPress E-Commerce Plugins | Web Design News
Martin (Marty) Smith
Top 5 Best Free WordPress E-Commerce Plugins (Top 5 Best Free WordPress E-Commerce Plugins http://t.co/r7hd25DuYy)
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Some of these were new to me.

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March 10, 2013

The NY Eyeglasses Merchant Backlash: "Bad Merchant" Rankings Later This Year
Martin (Marty) Smith
Had a bad experience purchasing from an online merchant? Google says it wants to protect searchers from that, and it may crackdown later this year with changes intended to prevent bad merchants from ranking well.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

The Semantic Problem

When The NY Eyeglasses website showed up a weakness in Google's algoritm, that Google can't tell the difference between good and bad rankings, they moved to crush HIM. 

The Problem Remained.

If you missed the story a brazen website in NYC was horrible at customer service on purpose. They wanted the rants against them since those rants on review websites helped push their SEO rankings through the roof. They would achieve top rankings when the juice-rich bad reviews poured in.


The eyeglasses website found a seam in Google's lack of semantic understanding. A link, in the current Google world, is valuable no matter what the semantic context. Google landed on this fool like a ton of bricks by chaging their algorithm FOR HIS WEBSITE proving when you mess with the bull don't talk about it in the New York Times. 

Google may close this loophole later this year as Navneet Panda's amazing algorithm begins to UNDERSTAND the difference between good and bank links or the sentiment behind them. 


Merchants with bad reviews beware. 
 

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March 7, 2013

Social Banking Means Ecom Is About To Go Social [graphic]
Martin (Marty) Smith
Tweet this: eCommerce gets social
Medill Reports: Chicago
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council has begun to formulate social media guidelines for social media eCommerce.
Martin (Marty) Smith:

Should have seen this coming. When Square revolutionized mobile money the next step is the creation of social banking. Too cool and sure to quiet if not eliminate the, "What's the ROI?".


This piece is about how bankers are doing what bankers do - formulating the rules of "social banking". 

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