What are the benefits of having my storefront on Shopify?
1. Easy To Use With Advanced Features
Shopify is an advanced platform, but is easy to set up and use. It is the best alternative for those who want a complete solution, with no technicalities related to development and hosting of the online store.
Need to install your Facebook pixel for tracking? With Shopify it’s no problem! All you have to do is add the pixel ID and they do the rest.
The platform itself offers the software and hosting that is needed for launching the website. The admin interface is intuitive and user-friendly while the user-interface is compelling too.
2. App Integrations To Help With Any Custom Process You May Need!
The platform boasts of amazing customization abilities as it can be easily integrated with apps. This means that you as a seller can easily add some extra features and functionalities to his store and enhance its value manifold.
Paying a developer for adding features on Woo Commerce could cost upwards of $150/hr. On Shopify you can often find free apps that will meet your needs.
3. Security and Reliability - YES That means close to NO downtime for your E-commerce store
Another benefit of Shopify is the reliability + security it offers. Security is essential for an online business because it deals with confidential personal and financial information of the customers.
Similarly, it must always be online with no downtime (tell that to wordpress). Both of these features are built in with this hosted solution that takes care of upgrades and maintenance.
4. Amazing Looking Online Store With NO CODING!
The platform bundles up a variety of professional templates that facilitate the creation of unique and visually appealing online stores. It comes with a bare minimum theme but designers and developers can work on it to create a store with rich UI and exceptional UX.
5. Excellent Loading Speed For E-commerce stores (Depending on your theme)
Being a globally hosted service, Shopify has a reliable infrastructure along with optimized processes to get you lightening fast load times.
This gives the platform a super-fast loading speeds. Depending on your theme of course. Fast loading e-commerce sites convert better, and have a much better user experience. This is paramount for your brand!
6. Mobile Responsiveness (Yes this is still an issue with other e-commerce sites)
Mobile responsiveness is the key to success of an e-commerce store because the number of mobile shoppers is increasing by the day. The Shopify themes are mobile responsive, which means that it can be used to avail mobile-optimized stores.
There is even free iPhone and Android app that can be used to manage your store. The functionality of the Shopify app is better than anything out there on the market!
7. Outstanding Customer Support
By choosing Shopify, you get round-the-clock customer support.
Shopify experts are available 24/7 via email, live chat, or phone to resolve any queries and keep the store running flawlessly at all times.
We have experienced wait times around the 10-20 minute mark at most points in the day.
8. Easy + Integrated Payments
A big challenge for online retailer is to integrate a secure and reliable payment gateway.
The Content Management System or CMS you have should allow your customers to pay using different payment options.
Shopify makes it simple for the store owners to set up the payment gateway. The platform supports the Stripe payment option, giving buyers the liberty to make transactions without paying any extra fees.
The more options you have to pay, the easier it is for people to buy.
9. SEO Friendly (This one is controversial)
Once your store is set up, it is important to make it search engine friendly. SEO is important for ensuring the e-commerce is easily accessible by shoppers searching for your products. It’s also important to play by the rules that Google and the other search engines put out there!
Want to take your e-commerce shop to the next level?
How do you determine how much ad spend to put into Google vs. Facebook?
In order to scale, it is a must for e-commerce businesses to advertise on both Google ads (Search, Display, Shopping, Youtube) and Facebook ads (Facebook & Instagram). But…how do you know how to allocate your ad spend?
To make decisions like this, we rely on the data. If you’re already currently running ads on both platforms, this means evaluating the performance of both. Lets look at 5 potential scenarios:
If one platform is performing well and is profitable, for the sake of scaling it is a smart decision to allocate more budget to the higher performing platform.
If the lower performing platform is still profitable, it may also still be scaleable and you should consider increasing ad spend as long as profits are maintained.
If the lower performing platform is NOT profitable, your plan of attack should be to eliminate all wasted spend (and re-allocate it to the other platform) and optimize the few areas that are still performing well. If there are no areas performing well, the smart choice is to allocate the majority of this platform’s budget to the higher performing platform, and begin digging into the core issues that are causing the worse platform to perform poorly. In some cases, a complete account overhaul and rebuild is necessary.
If both platforms are performing equally well…scale them both! If one platform is better aligned with your goals and target demographic, allocate more to that platform. If not…scale them both equally.
If neither platform is performing well…there is a deeper issue and developing a detailed marketing strategy is highly recommended before putting more money into ad spend.
Why doesn't my Instagram page generate as much sales as it used to?
We’ve interviewed countless ecommerce store owners just like you on our podcast, and the vast majority have said the same thing:
they used to rely on organic Instagram posts as a way of driving high-converting traffic to their store, which generated lots of basically free sales!
It sounds fantastic, and it was.
But its over now. Over the past few years, Instagram has made several changes to its algorithm, gradually making it more and more difficult to reach your followers without advertising. This is the new normal, and we can’t expect it to change. It was good while it lasted, but now in order to reach the same amount people you must pay, in the form of pay-per-click ads.
When does Google Shopping make sense for a business?
In short: if you’re not already on Google Shopping…Do it today!
As long as you’ve got the ad spend, and a well-positioned product that is searchable, your business should be using Google Shopping.
Why? A number of good reasons!
Google Shopping ads appear at the very top of the page, above search ads and organic results. This means…more clicks! Which means…more sales!
Google Shopping ads are visual, meaning people get to see the product, see the price, AND if they’re interested…click to learn more and/or make a purchase
Google Shopping ads are, by their very nature high intent ads. People are much more likely to purchase something they are actually searching for, rather than something from a random ad.
Google Shopping ads overall CPA (Cost per action) is $38.87, which is significantly lower when compared to the CPA of Google search ads, which is $48.96 (2019)
Google Shopping ads do take some additional time and work to set up when compared to search ads, but when managed correctly they can be incredibly lucrative, and should be a pillar of every e-commerce business’s marketing strategy.
Is there special funding available to help e-commerce businesses scale?
Drumroll please…..
YES!
We’ve partnered with Clearbanc, the largest ecommerce investor in the world, to provide ecommerce businesses like yours with growth capital. According to Clearbanc, in order to qualify your ecommerce business must meet the following criteria:
average monthly revenue of at least $10,000
at least 6 months of consistent revenue history
business must be incorporated (ie. corporations or limited liability companies)
Whats also awesome is the entire process (application, offer, negotiation, approval, sending funds) can be completed in as little as one to two business days.
Whats more - our partner referrals get a better rate. Bonus!
If you’d like to see if growth capital is an option for your ecommerce business, get in touch with us.
How to I provide access to my Shopify store?
Depending on the level of engagement, it may be important for you to provide your marketing partners with access to your Shopify store. This may be to access analytics data, make theme changes, optimize the website performance, etc. Luckily, this is very easy to do.
Log in as the store owner.
From your Shopify admin, click Settings, and then click Plan and permissions or Account.
In the Staff section of Permissions, click Add staff.
Enter a first name, a last name, and an email address for the new staff member.
Click Send invite.
How do I provide access to my Google Analytics account?
When working with a marketing partner, the more data they have the better. Google Analytics, when set up correctly, can provide a wealth of important data and key insights that will help to maximize your marketing efforts.
Adding a New User
You can add as many users as you need. To add a new user to an account/property/view:
Sign in to Google Analytics.
Click Admin, and navigate to the desired account/property/view.
In the Account, Property, or View column (depending upon whether you want to add users at the account, property, or view level), click User Management.
In the Account users list, click +, then click Add new users.
Enter the email address for the user's Google Account.
Select Notify new users by email to send a message to the user.
Select the permissions you want.
Click Add.
User Permissions
Four permissions are available that you can apply singly or in combination:
Manage Users
Can manage account users (add/delete users, assign any permissions). Does not include Edit or Collaborate. Can grant full permissions to any user, including themselves, for any account, property, or view for which they have this permission.Edit
Can perform administrative and report-related functions (e.g., add/edit/delete accounts, properties, views, filters, goals, Channel Grouping, etc., but not manage users), and see report data.
Edit permission is required at the account level to create filters. Edit permission is required at the view level to apply filters.
Includes Collaborate.Collaborate
Can create, edit, delete, and share personal assets. Can collaborate on shared assets. Includes Read & Analyze.Read & Analyze
Can see report and configuration data; can manipulate data within reports (e.g., filter a table, add a secondary dimension, create a segment); can create personal assets, and share them, and see shared assets. Cannot collaborate on shared assets.
How to I provide access to my Google Merchant account?
Adding a New User
If you are an admin, you will be able to invite new users to access your Google Merchant account. In order for someone to receive your invitation and access your Google Merchant account, they will also need to have a Google Ads account.
Sign in to your Merchant Center account.
Click the tools icon (it looks like a wrench)
Select Account access under the “Settings” menu.
Click the plus button. +
Enter the email address of the person you want to invite.
Click Add user.
On the next page, select the level of user access you'd like to grant, and email preferences for that user.
Click Save.
User Access Level
Standard: Ability to sign in to Google Merchant Center and access everything in the account, except the "Users" tab and the "Merchant Center programs" tab.
Admin: Standard account access, plus the ability to add, delete, or edit user roles in the "Users" tab.
Email contacts: No account access, but will receive emails based on preferences.
How do I find my Google Ads account ID?
At some point, you may need to locate your Google Ads account ID (also referred to as your Customer ID).
Dashboards for modern digital marketing platforms can be a nightmare! Luckily, Google has made this quite easy for everyone.
Sign into your Google Ads account
Click the help icon in the top right corner (Its a ? question mark)
You will see your Customer ID at the bottom of the drop-down menu
The format for your ID is XXX-XXX-XXXX
How do I share access to my catalog in Facebook?
If your agency partner ever needs to run catalog ads for your business, they’ll need to have access to your catalog.
To give access to your catalog:
1. Click the top left Business Manager menu
2. Click Business Settings
Once in Business Settings, select your business.
Select Data Sources.
Select Catalogs and select the catalog you want to assign a partner to.
Select Assign Partner.
Select how you want to invite your partner. You can select Business ID if you know their business ID. Or, you can select Get Link to Share to generate a link to send your partner.
Select either the Manage catalog or Create ads task to assign your partner.
Piece of cake!
How do I find my Facebook Ads Account ID?
Sometimes, you need to provide a third party with your Facebook ad account ID number - like when you’re just starting out with an agency that will be managing your Facebook ads.
Theres a lot going on in the Facebook business manager dashboard, and finding something simple like your ad account ID can turn into what feels like hours of searching through a maze of menus and sub menus.
Click the upper-left Business Manager menu button
Click Ads Manager
3. Click the account dropdown menu above the search and filter bar. You should now see the ID number for your ad account.
Voila! There you have it. :)
Whats the difference between an account setup and a full strategy?
Setups. Strategies. Two very important elements of successful marketing. But very different!
A setup is…just that: the act of setting up your marketing. From onboarding, to asset gathering, to ad creation, campaign building, audience targeting, etc etc etc….
In a nutshell, the setup is the technical getting-your-ducks-in-a-row part of your marketing, in the short term.
If you’re curious to learn more about what goes into a setup, see our article here.
A strategy on the other hand: the gameplan/blueprint/roadmap/whatever you want to call it. A strategy is created based on your business data, goals, industry and competitive metrics. A strategy pre-emptively outlines opportunities and identifies tactics. Its a long-term plan for marketing success.
If you’re curious to learn more about marketing strategy, learn more here.
In summary:
A setup is required for any successful marketing engagement, but it does not gaurantee long-term results.
A strategy is highly recommended to maximize the effectiveness of all marketing assets, efforts, and opportunities.
Why do agencies charge for setup and onboarding?
ONBOARDING
To understand why agencies charge for onboarding, you must first understand what it is. In a nutshell - it is the initial collection of information and assets needed for the marketing agency to be successful on behalf of the client. Things like:
Billing information
Short term & long term goals
Key contacts and stakeholders
Marketing workflow
Team introductions
Research
SETUP
Depending on the scope of work involved - that is, number of campaigns, ad groups, ads, unique offers, ad spend budget, etc…it can be a lot of work to properly set up an account with campaigns that are ready to launch. Typical tasks performed in an account set-up:
Asset organization
Ad copy creation and/or approval
Ad creative creation and/or approval
Ad creation and approval
Audience setup
Traffic segmentation
Campaign structure setup
Tracking pixel validation
Bid strategy setup & Budget allocation
And this is all before the campaign can launch! Many items must be set up, checked, and double-checked for accuracy before the campaign can safely see the light of day and begin showing ads to potential buyers.
Taking on a new client can be a costly and time-consuming undertaking for a marketing agency, and it is why it is the industry standard to charge a setup fee. The fee will vary from agency to agency, based on a number of factors including the size of the account being onboarded, the desirability and/or capacity of the agency in question, and the value created by the setup.
Have questions about how we do on-boarding?
How should seasonal businesses manage their ad spend?
Some products have a seasonal appeal, and will sell much more during certain months than others. For example - a business that exclusively sells winter jackets is going to have decreased demand during the warmer spring & summer months, and increased demand during fall & winter.
We’re big proponents of scaling ad spend as much as possible, however the seasonal aspect has to be taken into consideration. There is simply no point in spending the same amount of ad-spend in slower months unless there is a unique strategy in place for how that ad-spend will be utilized.
So…what should a seasonal business do?
A seasonal business with an aggressive marketing plan may choose to keep spending consistently throughout the year, however if thats not the case:
Strategize by identifying its slowest 6 months, and its busiest 6 months
Create a plan for scaling ad spend up during busy months
Create a plan for:
a) scaling ad spend back for slow months (and never stop retargeting!)
b) re-allocating ad spend to other platforms that maintain better performance
c) adding new products that can be sold during the slow seasonIdentify how much you are willing to spend to acquire a sale during the slow season
Seasonal businesses should almost always set aside a portion of marketing budget for the slow season. What this looks like will vary - the key is having a plan ahead of time.