Understanding E-business Marketing Messages

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Understanding E-business Marketing Messages – Your marketing materials and campaigns should be clear to your customers how and why they should buy from your Web site. Here are some messages that can help you develop your e-business:

Discounts: Your marketing vehicles should make it clear that you offer discounts that are only available online.

Make sure your offers are at least as good as, if not better than, your competitors’ offers and meet or exceed customer demands. For example, a downside to online shopping for many consumers is the cost of shipping and handling. Therefore, many sites now offer free shipping and handling with purchases over a certain dollar amount.

Ease of use: If your site makes it easy to shop and buy, make sure you express that in your marketing efforts.

Security: No matter how secure your site is, if your customers don’t know it they won’t trust it. In your marketing materials and on your Web site, communicate your concern for protecting their privacy and securing their information. A link to your privacy policy in all e-mail communications is recommended — particularly when you’re requesting that recipients provide you with personal information.

Remember to feature the security guarantee seal of your SSL provider on your site.

Customer service: This is an area in which many companies, unfortunately, drop the ball. No matter how much a customer enjoyed shopping on your site, if you aren’t available when he has an issue with the product he purchased, his overall experience with your company is negative. Plus, more people will tell others about a company or Web site that they had a negative encounter with than about ones they had a positive experience with. Word of mouth can hurt your company. Let your customers know how to get help and make sure you’re available to assist your customers through the purchase process as well as post-sale.

Customer testimonials: So, you say you have a great product, great customer service, and a good reputation? Your customers don’t need to just take your word for it if you can provide customer testimonials. Feature these on your site and in your marketing materials.

Before featuring a customer testimonial, get permission from that customer to use it. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for testimonials from customers who are happy with your service.

Post-sale communications: It’s much easier and less expensive to keep an existing customer than to obtain a new one. So it’s to your benefit to follow up with customers and thank them for their purchases. Include a special offer in your thank-you message to motivate them to return or to refer someone else to your site.

The best way to facilitate post-sale communications is to ask the customer for his contact information when he’s making the purchase and then request permission to send him e-mail updates and offers.

Even if he doesn’t want regular communications, you can say “thank you” and feature a special promotional message when you send the confirmation of his order.

Additional Reading: E-marketing You Can Use to Make Buzz for Your Business Website