Growth Hacking

When it comes to Social Media, Facebook and Twitter usually get the most attention, but what about Pinterest?

Pinterest is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media sites and caters to a very specific demographic, women.

In fact, 71 percent of Pinterest’s user base is women which means that if you have a product or a service that is catered to a female demographic, you should definitely be taking advantage of this growing trend.

While women remain to be Pinterest’s biggest audience, the number of men who are also using Pinterest is rapidly growing. In just a 12 month period, the percentage of men using Pinterest increased from 5 percent to 8 percent.

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One of the most important metrics your business needs to understand is the cost of customer acquisition or CAC.

Understanding what it costs your company to acquire a new customer can be like looking into a crystal ball that can measure whether your company is destined to fail or succeed.

It can also help point you in the right direction as to where to spend your time, money and marketing efforts.

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Wouldn’t it be great to boost the volume of traffic to your website without spending a cent?

Building good quality traffic for free is definitely not impossible, all it takes is a little time and TLC.

Here are 5 ways to boost organic traffic (for free!):

1.) Email List:

We have spoken about the importance of collecting emails before but did you know that it is one of the most consistent forms of website traffic?

This is because you know exactly how many users are receiving your content and you can track how many people open it, read it and then click through.

Your email list traffic is also some of your most engaged traffic. Think about it- at some point your site engaged them so much that they decided to enter their email to keep up to date with what you have to say. Don’t underestimate the power of that.

Because your email subscribers are highly engaged, they are also one of the best target groups to promote your products and services.

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Last year, business analysts predicted that e-commerce would explode, and they were right.

Today, e-commerce generates over $1.2 million every 30 seconds and by 2016, it has been predicted that e-commerce sales will increase by 62%.

This means that if you are not selling your products online or seeing results from online sales, then you are definitely missing out on a huge and rapidly expanding market.

Here are 10 ways to capitalise on this trend:

1.) Targeting: Having a successful business online starts with building a presence and the only way to do that is to go after the people that want to notice you- ie. your target audience. To be recognised by your customers, you need to make yourself available to those who are most likely to notice. Those who are most likely to notice are people looking for your types of products or services or people who would benefit from your company. Identify the demographics of your target audience and then strategise your marketing accordingly.

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Do you want to boost your revenue?

Of course you do.

That is why Up-Selling and Cross-Selling are crucial no matter whether you run a product or service based business. (Yes, that’s right, up-selling and cross-selling is not just for product based businesses!)

Studies have repeatedly found that companies that have a functional up-sell and cross-sell strategy experience:

• Greater customer life time value
• Increase in the average order value per customer
• Increased marketing leads
• Increased revenue and profits

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What is the most common reason for unsubscribing from an email list?

Frequency.

Collecting emails is one of the most valuable things you can do for your business however, no one wants their inbox flooded with irrelevant emails or constant promotions.

Creating a successful email list is about offering information that is relevant, somewhat exclusive and maybe even personalised. There also needs to be a ratio between asking your subscribers to do something such as download, purchase and opt-in, and offering value or freebies. It’s all about giving and receiving.

No matter how brilliant your content and offers are, unsubscribing is to be expected to some extent. Don’t despair. Those who unsubscribe, especially early on in the process, are probably not your target audience anyway.

Besides ensuring your emails are valuable, here are 5 other ways to decrease your unsubscription rate:

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We all have brands that we identify or associate with, especially growing up.

Think back to those early days when you loved Hot Wheels, or the latest Barbie. It didn’t matter if you could find an identical product at the $2 shop, it wasn’t special unless it was from the brand you saw on the TV, at your friends house or in the junk mail catalogues.

Let’s face it, branding is everything and if you do it right, it can forever sell your product through the good times and the not-so-good times.

Take McDonalds for example, how many of us can vividly recall the smell of the french fries and the taste of their fluffy white hamburger buns? Even though the company has come under a lot of flack recently and is losing sales, the golden arches has still managed to remain memorable.

Establishing a brand can take time, but understanding who your customers are and how they perceive your business is a good place to start.

Both employees and customers develop a positive or negative view towards a company based on how it conducts itself and what its overall objective is. Keeping this in mind will help you establish your brand in a holistic sense- from the inside out.

There are five main factors that go into creating a successful brand:

1.) An Understanding of Your Customers: Who are they, want are their needs, what are they looking for?

2.) Support: Do your products and services support your customers needs and deliver a desirable service?

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When you are running a product based business often it really comes down to the finer details in order to stay competitive and relevant.

We talk a lot about building a great website, how to market your products and so on, but what about how to package them?

Your shipping packaging will be the first thing your customers see, why not make it something exciting? Why not make them feel that they have purchased something special?

First impressions count, so use your packaging as an opportunity to squeeze every last chance to make a connection with your customer. (But of course, don’t forget to also ensure that your packaging is safe and secure so your products arrive in perfect condition.)

Here are 5 ways you can update your shipping packaging to resonate with your brand:

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As technology is rapidly changing so too should your marketing strategy. Let’s face it, we all rely on technology and if you are not keeping up with the latest trends and updating your business, you could get left behind.

Marketing statistics from 2014 saw a huge increase in social media advertising and the launch of bigger and better smartphones also saw a turn in mobile advertising.

In fact, for the last few years, mobile advertising is growing at a rapid rate, and if you are yet to take a piece of this marketing pie then you may be missing out.

Based on the trends from last year and predictions from expert marketers, here are the 5 top marketing trends that you need to be using:

1.) Mobile Advertising

Ok, mobile advertising is nothing new, but getting savvy about how and when to advertise on mobile devices is paramount. Today, more and more consumers are using their mobile to scan websites and make purchases. Google’s algorithm is also now going to be favouring mobile friendly websites, which means that if you have not configured your site for the digital age, you will get left behind.

Make your mobile site touch-screen friendly and keep your CTA’s simple, clear and easy to navigate through. If you are running an advertising campaign, tailor your ads for mobile devices and consider advertising on apps.

Alternatively, if it is suitable for your company, why not launch your own app? More and more consumers rely on their smartphones and tablets for information. If you can be right there on their smartphone home screen you are more likely to have a customer for life.

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Do you want to increase your conversion rates and boost your sales? Of course you do, which is why you split test your site….Right?

Split testing is one of the most important tools when it comes to website design and conversion rates, yet a lot of businesses overlook it. They spend tens of thousands, if not more, on a great website design but then fail to upgrade or make changes, especially if it appears to be converting well.

With so many businesses competing online, “converting well” can sometimes not be enough. Forget converting “well”, don’t you want to convert “fantastically”?

This is where Split Testing comes into play, and it can be easy to do if you have the right tools and support in place.

Split testing basically means that you test two different design or content elements of your site to see which one yields higher conversions. This allows you to tailor your webpage to your specific demographic and target audience.

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