Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Ultimate Guide for Marketplace Analytics

Modern packages for marketplace management and marketplace analytics offer more possibilities than any company can or even should try to use at once. Collecting big data is just the first step. Here we’re sharing important ways you can optimize your marketplace marketing results.

A Deep-dive into Your Analytics Program and Using Customized KPIs
Your marketplace analytics program offers a range of statistics from unique visitors to bounce rates, average time on the site, page views, and where traffic is coming from social media. It’s for you to decide which stats are useful for your company.

Before you begin, state your purpose and agree upon it across all departments. Ask yourself:

  • Do we want increased customer applications?
  • Do we need to localize our strategy? 
  • Do we want to boost participation in our loyalty programs?

When you know what you’re looking for, you’ll be able to dive into the numbers that mean something to you. You gain a clearer picture of how the raw data relates.

Predictive Analytics

Big data is most powerful when accompanied by an attitude of continuous improvement. Markets are moving faster than ever and marketplace analytics need to be ahead of the curve.

Predictive analytics can work best when options come from a wide range of thought which narrows as the analysis proceeds. Less data puts more ideas on the table for use. As more data is gained, improve your predictions by removing the less efficient options. Reign in the desire to test elementary ideas until your brainstorming sessions are complete and every potential idea is shared.

Data Isn’t Always Black and White

You may think the data will tell you everything you need to know, but data doesn’t show right or wrong. Rather, data will give you an interpretation of less correct or more correct. If you go diving into data looking for black and white answers, unfortunately, you won’t find them.

For example, the most effective ad may include pieces of several ads. You’ll only know this by understanding the nuances of each dataset during multivariate testing. You may discover a keyword from one ad, a sentence length from another, and a picture placement of a third could lead you to optimized marketplace solutions. 

Focus Your Efforts on a Specific Buyer Profile

Buyer profiles can range from first responders to loyalists, new prospects, and more. When you’re looking to optimize sales, you may want to focus on your loyalists. If you’re introducing a new product, direct your efforts to your first responders. Once you’ve determined who your core audience is, this will streamline your interpretation of the data for optimal marketplace management.

Consider Other Ways to Aggregate Data

You may consider a link shortener, UTM tracking codes, and social media platform metrics to strengthen the volume of your data. This is a great tip for newer companies without enough data to have an optimized sample size. However, even established companies can benefit from one test run. You may discover missing data by trying one of these options.

At Kahuna, we offer innovative marketplace solutions to boost user retention and increase profitability. Contact us today to learn how our marketplace marketing and analytics programs can help you. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

5 Conversion Rate Optimization Principles to Get Started

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) involves the process in which user engagement is increased to lead to conversion or other action. If you’re looking for useful ways to improve conversion optimization in your business, the following are five ways to enhance your CRO strategy. No matter your current skill level, you’ll find a variety of ways to improve your e-commerce conversion funnel and boost your conversion rate a few more percentage points. 

Small, Easy Commitments

You want your audience to get into the habit of saying “yes.” Micro-commitments are small actions which can help you achieve this goal. When a person signs up for a newsletter or shares a post about your product on social media, each of these small commitments can be a step in the direction you need them to go. 

With the Shopify blog, their target audience is sellers who use their platform to compete with other businesses. The top of their blog tells their audience to sign up for their newsletter to get “free business lessons.” This becomes an easy decision for businesses looking to become more successful in building their e-commerce conversion funnel. 

Make it Personal

To improve conversion rate optimization in your emails, add the recipient’s name in the subject line. Personalization gets significantly higher open rates than those without. You can even take this a step further by adding your customer’s name in the email copy and on the landing page. Our only caution: don’t get too carried away because too much personalization can seem overly eager or just plain creepy. 

A good example of balancing personalization is when Sephora sends their customer’s a “Happy Birthday” email with a free birthday gift. The recipient’s name is shown several times throughout the email making it feel personal and special. 

Test Your Conversion Rate Optimization

Testing helps you know if your conversion optimization is working. Whether you choose A/B testing or have a higher budget and traffic volume to perform multivariate testing, you’ll find the results you’re needing. 

If you haven’t done tests recently, start with these tips for your ads and landing pages:

  • Use different titles and H1 tags
  • Change everything about your call to action: color, button style, placement, text.
  • Move elements on the page such as video toward the top and copy at the bottom.
  • Swap out images and video thumbnails


Build Targeted Landing Pages

The more landing pages you have, the more opportunity to engage with your audience. Hubspot revealed companies who added five more landing pages to on top of their current 10 landing pages saw a 55% increase in leads. They allow more touchpoints with more customers and allow you to test different elements on the landing page. 

Be Consistent

Brand inconsistency leads to a loss of trust and is one of the biggest reasons people abandon websites. If your ads feature bright colors and puppies, but when they get to your website, they notice dull-colored, non-themed pages, they’ll leave. Meeting the expectations of users is important for building trust and conversion optimization. 

Take a look at your landing pages and check that they match your title tag and meta description. Find out which PPC ads are performing best and test the meta content. Change H1 tags and other text fields on the landing page to match your ad. Be consistent with the color scheme and vibe of your ads and landing pages. 

Looking for ways to enhance your e-commerce conversion funnel? At Kahuna, we help businesses convert more leads and grow their business. Contact us today to learn more