Clarity in today's world of visual and auditory clutter is critical in getting through to your customers. What is the formula for creating messages that will cut through? We explore that in this article. We also explore what it takes to create an ongoing pipeline of quality leads for your eCommerce operation and how native advertising could be beneficial to your brand.
In a world of distraction & noise, clarity wins
One of the biggest roadblocks your business faces is the explosion of noise in today's digital landscape. The competition for consumer attention has never been more fierce.
How are you effectively securing the attention of consumers in this environment? You need to distill your message down; make it simple for people to remember your product, your service, and your brand. Enter the superpower of Clarity.
One way to obtain clarity is to provide your audience with "memory hooks to the brain." Memory hooks are created through:
- Statements. Use clear, concise sentences.
- Stories. Reinforce your statements.
- Snippets. Use memorable keywords and phrases.
- Symbols. Reference your stories with images and metaphors.
These building blocks create and reinforce memories. They affect our brain's Reticular Activating System (RAS) — the body's mechanism to filter through sensory input. Without the RAS, we become helpless to sensory overload.
You have about 15 to 30 seconds to grab someone's attention before your message becomes background noise. Symbols and snippets are the quickest shortcuts through the RAS.
Want to learn a bit more? Here is an entertaining 29 minute podcast that provides easy and vivid illustrations for achieving clarity.
What's your one-two punch to achieve above-average eCommerce growth?
What is your formula for growing your eCommerce pipeline? Ask yourself these four questions:
- How do you drive quality traffic?
- How do you drive higher conversion rates?
- How do you ensure your promotional strategies drive positive growth?
- How are you automating improvements in sales-per-order and repeat customer sales?
Here are some quick tips to improve in each of the above areas:
- Improve management of your owned channels. Data shows that owned and paid channels are the biggest drivers of qualified traffic across all factors.
- Reduce friction points across the multiple devices shoppers use to make a final purchase. Fully understand the micro-moments in your shoppers cross-channel journey.
- Benchmark your promotional strategies with your competitors in the outdoor industry. Don’t allow your shoppers to be conditioned by waiting for the next promotion.
- Experiment with AI tools to improve your engagement with your existing customers to match their wants and needs with your product offerings.
Ready to grow your online sales? Watch the video below to find out how.
Should native advertising be part of your overall eCommerce strategy?
Content marketing is huge in the long run — you own the content assets and reap the SEO rewards. However, if you are going to advertise, native ads are working and your competitors are using them. Why?
People read and engage with native ads on a more meaningful level. Because of this, native ads typically have:
- 2x more visual focus than a banner ad.
- 308x more time spent on the ad.
- 18% higher purchase intent compared to a banner ad.
- 53% more views than banner ads.
Native ads have also been shown to influence purchase decisions on a more subconscious level. The advertising message is baked into the content; it's not where the reader is expecting to see an advertising message. Check out these examples of native advertising.
The Pros
- Can be highly targeted: You’re able to reach readers where they are already hanging out.
- Gain more awareness: Native advertisements circumvent banner blindness and garner more attention than display ads.
- They’re effective: CTRs for native ads are 8.8x higher than the average display ad.
- They’re unobtrusive: Native ads don’t affect the user experience because they are designed to be a part of the reader’s experience.
The Cons
- Lacks SEO benefits: Native advertising doesn’t provide any SEO benefits to the company.
- Can make the reader feel duped: Some reader can feel like they were tricked into clicking an ad.
- Can be expensive.
Three tools to consider checking out to use in developing and deploying a native ad campaign are:
What's your plan to test out native ads?
Get more information on developing a Marketing and Branding Strategies for eCommerce. Have a question or just want to connect, you can reach me at my email or talk to me.
