Here are some 2019 examples you can
draw on for inspiration next year:
Combining Products
If you carry both kids and adult ranges, consider combining the products into a Mother / Son or Mother / Daughter duo, like what Spendless Shoes did:
Not only does it encourage shoppers
to make a purchase for their Mum, but it tempts them into picking up and pair
for themselves too.
Gift with Purchase
Offering a free gift with purchase
is an oldie but a goodie.
It’s a way to increase the perceived value, rather than simply discounting. It should be relevant and drive urgency, so don’t be afraid to use the ‘while stocks last’ caveat, which is what Giftbox Boutique did:
Depending on the value of the gift, you may want customers to spend above a certain threshold. Reaching this threshold could mean customers get a whole pamper pack, not just a body butter. Here’s what Hitting the Mark APAC winner SurfStitch promoted:
Gift Guide
Ecoya created “Mum personas” from “jet setter Mum” to “wellness Mum” and matched their candles to these personas. This is a clever tactic, as the content aims to help and inspire shoppers who’re unsure what to buy their Mum:
Competition
Seize the opportunity to gather more data on your customers, and get people talking about your brand on social media with a competition.
Furniture brand Matt Blatt had a $3,000 Mother’s Day
makeover up for grabs for one lucky customer. Entrees were asked to describe
the most bizarre Mother’s Day gift they’d ever received in 25 words or less,
post a pic, and tag Matt Blatt and radio celebrity Em Rusciano on Instagram and
Facebook.
Once customers were lured in by the
competition, they were then directed to shop Em’s favourite furniture edits.
Discount
Sleepwear brand Peter Alexander had two weapons in their arsenal – a store-wide 20% discount, and free shipping, which ended 72 hours before Mother’s Day. This helped to set customers’ expectations on shipping.
Choice
At the same time, it’s important to remember Mother’s Day may not be a happy occasion for all people. Brands such as florist, L’Ámour, recognize that and offered customers the option to opt-out:
As you can see, brands cover the
whole spectrum of promotions and emotions on Mother’s Day.
My favourite type of promotion this
year?
Combining Products.
When I can buy a present for my
Mum, but also see product for myself, or get something extra for her, I’m in.
And if there is a store-wide discount, then everyone wins.
Fuzzy feelings all round!
It’s important to make sure
whichever tactic you adopt, you’re picking the one that works best for your
brand and on your budget.
If you can’t wait till next year to use some of these ideas for inspiration, there’s always Father’s Day! In the UK and USA, it’s on Sunday 16th June, and in Australia, it’s on Sunday 1st September.
For well over a century International Women’s Day has celebrated the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and accelerated the call for women’s equality.
Today, the fight continues. Thanks to the progress of technology, we’re now exposed to more stories of women’s courage, ingenuity, and dedication than ever before. As a result, inspiration is everywhere.
Jennie Myring, Director of
Professional Services
I’m constantly inspired by stories of women who refuse to take no for an answer and never second guess themselves.
I
love to see light being shed on exceptional women throughout history, who have
had the courage to do what’s right and be themselves. Such as the remarkable
mathematicians in Hidden Figures who made a significant impact on the early
years of the NASA Space Program. They were strong, intelligent women who built each
other up and succeeded in the face of racism and sexism. Or, Erin Brockovich,
who never gave up and fought to get justice for everyone effected by the
Hinkley drinking water contamination.
And,
anyone who knows me would also be aware of my guilty pleasure for Call the Midwife.
Based on memoirs of Jennifer Worth, the show about the nuns of Poplar working
as midwives in the 1950s demonstrates the importance of female friendship and
support. Plus, I do love watching babies being born!
Considering
the importance of film and TV as a medium for information, it’s important that
these stories are told to empower and inspire generations to come.
Amie Lane, Head of Events
Michelle Obama has always
inspired me and after reading ‘becoming’ I’m even more captivated by her. From her iconic fashion looks to her contagious positivity, her messages are profound and bold. I love how
she pushes forward the idea that we should always prioritize self-care, use our
own voices for change, and be ourselves — unapologetically.
The fact that she
is refreshing candid about how she grew up, the pressures she faced
in the White House, and her family-first priorities – it helps to show that
life is hard, but we can all seek out the best balance possible for ourselves.
It’s
hard to summarize why Michelle Obama is such an inspiration to me so maybe it
would help to use some of her own words:
“One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so, when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.”
“Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts … good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don’t hurt. They’re not painful. That’s not just with somebody you want to marry, but it’s with the friends that you choose. It’s with the people you surround yourselves with.”
“Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own “to do” list.”
“Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.”
“Like I tell my daughters, women and girls can do whatever they want…..there’s no limit to what we, as women can, accomplish.”
Michelle Obama is extraordinarily relatable and down to
earth – making her more real to all of us. She has continuously demonstrated
the capacity to lead by example, to balance conflicting roles, to raise two
strong daughters, and to still be in a loving marriage despite a lot of
external pressure. To me she will always remain
an inspiration for women and girls everywhere.
Don’t you want to be her friend? I do.
Julia
Neuhold, Product Marketing Executive
While some may
still find the term ‘feminism’ difficult to grasp – Feminist Fight Club brings
it home. Every woman will recognize at least one situation described in the
book. From being interrupted in a meeting you’re chairing and asked to get
coffee, to being excluded from team building exercises because it’s assumed
that “fantasy football just isn’t for women”. Sexism in the workplace is very
much active, but it’s often so subtle that it goes unnoticed. In the Feminist
Fight Club, Jessica Bennett manages to not only pinpoint the issue, she also
provides ‘battle tactics’ on how to turn sexist situations around. Or as
Bennett puts it; how to “carry yourself with the confidence of a mediocre white
man”. The Feminist Fight Club is relatable, and it’s absolutely hilarious.
But the main reason
why I recommend this book to every young woman kick-starting her career is the
underlying essence of the book: Women supporting women. It highlights the
importance of making an active effort to mentor and empower female colleagues.
Making space for them to present their ideas, acknowledge their achievements, to
listen and to promote them in whatever way possible. After all, we’re all part
of the fight club. If we like it or not.
Adele Boesinger, Internal Trainer
“If you really prepare for something, you’re more likely to have success … but when you fail, you do get stronger.”
The term ‘legend’ is bandied around an awful lot. So much in fact, that when it comes to describing athletes like Paula Radcliffe, it kind of feels inadequate. The quote above is one of main from her that have inspired me, personally, professionally, and in pursuit of my running goals.
To me, she is an icon – and not just in the running
community. Not only does she still hold the women’s marathon world record – an incredible
2:15:25 – she has also won both the London and New York Marathons three times over,
won major international championships, and competed in four Olympic Games. In
the process, she has inspired millions of female runners around the world to
unleash their potential. And I’m proud to include myself among them.
Watching her battle through injuries and adversities
has taught me to never to give up, and not be afraid to push my boundaries.
Though she hung up her competitive racing shoes in 2015, her legend and love of
running is as strong as ever. I recently heard at speak at the National Running
Show in Birmingham where she shared stories of overcoming training battles. Something
that really resounded with me was her advice to “tak[e] it steadily, day by
day. Set baby targets. And bring the same dedication to your rehabilitation as
you would bring to your training.”
Whether it’s a tough run, or a difficult day,
Paula’s attitude toward her sport and training really resonates with the outlook
I try to have on life in general. Her career, words and perspective on life
will continue to be an inspiration to me.
Sanam Arshad, Online Marketing Executive
On a day like
today, I want to celebrate my inspirational sister, Saima Thompson.
She’s a force to be
reckoned with. She’s a restaurateur, blogger, inspirational speaker, and doing
all this whilst living with stage 4 lung cancer at 29 years old.
Since being given
the bombshell diagnosis, Saima hasn’t let cancer stop her, it’s made her
thrive. During her own personal journey that is cancer, she still wants to help
others. We come from a south Asian family, and she found there was a big issue
in our community around an unwillingness to discuss health issues. So, Saima
has made it her mission to demystify cancer and get south Asians talking open
about the disease.
Saima has always
put others first. As the oldest of four sisters, she has always protected the
family and supported us, no matter what. She’s always fought for what she
believes, and her efforts have been recognized publicly! With the help of her
blog, Curry and Cancer, Saima has been
raising awareness and encouraging conversations on BBC London and in the Houses
of Parliament.
Each day, Saima
never fails to inspire me. She’s made me see that life is what you make it and
the small things that you’d normally worry about, just don’t matter. She’s
showed me that no matter what obstacles you come across, there should always be
a drive to make things better. Listen to your body, take time out for yourself
and love the ones closest to you.
Jenna Paton, Content Executive
My first exposure
to gender bias (that I can remember) came while watching Legally Blonde.
Yes. I do mean the
brilliant rom-com starring Reese Witherspoon.
Stereotyped as a dumb blonde, no one expected much from Elle Woods. She was objectified and demeaned by those around her, by men and women alike. She didn’t fit in. She wore pink, liked getting manicures, and carried her tiny dog around in her purse. She didn’t belong among the scholars at Harvard Law School. But, Elle refused to change to fit in.
She smashed down the walls that said she wouldn’t make it as a lawyer. In the process, she demonstrated the importance of staying true to yourself and supporting those around you. Whether it was the woman who did her nails, her socially awkward classmate, or her ex-boyfriend’s fiancé, Elle was there to help people when they needed it, simply because she could. She refused to change who she was. Yes, she liked shopping, popular culture and pampering herself, but why would that mean she wouldn’t be a good lawyer?
This movie came out when I was 8 years-old. It was a couple of years before I watched it for the first time, and a couple more before I properly understood it, but when I did, I was changed for the better. Elle Woods taught me to be that it’s always okay to be myself, and to accept others for the same, to never let gender or stereotyping hold me back. If I want something, I can achieve it, as long as I put my mind to it.
International Women’s
Day belongs to all groups, collectively, everywhere. The pursuit of gender equality
is simply a pursuit of basic human rights. Make everyday International Women’s
Day and embrace #balanceforbetter for good.
We’ve all been there. A new job’s on the horizon and all you can think about is how you’re going to squander the extra salary, what you’re going to don on your first day, and whether the new office will be teeming with talent.
It’s only on arrival that the panic starts to set in: new people to win over, a seemingly endless list of things to learn, and a bunch of new systems to get the hang of. If only you could’ve taken your favorite tools and platforms with you…
We have thousands of customers who love using the dotmailer platform (in fact, our NPS score was +10 in September). If you’re one of those people and you’re moving on to pastures new, we’re now offering a win-win incentive if you introduce dotmailer to your new place of work. The business will get a flexible best-of-breed marketing automation platform that’s primed for outstanding results, and you’ll get a system you know and love with the chance to scoop an enviable prize.
The incentive is open to anyone who’s used dotmailer, regardless of whether it was in your current role or a previous position. Don’t worry if you’re not quite ready to resign, because Referrers Win Rewards is a year-long campaign running from now until the end of 2018 and there’ll be prizes up for grabs every quarter.
I first got to know dotmailer when the company was just a bunch of young enthusiastic web developers called Ellipsis Media back in 1999. I was introduced by one of my suppliers and we decided to bring them on board to build a recruitment website for one of our clients. That client was Amnesty International and the job role was Secretary General. Not bad for a Croydon company whose biggest client before that was Scobles the plumber’s merchants. So, I was probably dotmailer’s first ever corporate client! After that, I used dotmailer at each company I worked for and then one day they approached a colleague and me and asked us if we wanted to work for them. That was 2013. We grabbed the opportunity with both hands and haven’t looked back since.
Tell us a bit about your role
I’m the Global Head of Technical Solutions which actually gives me responsibility for 2 teams. First, Custom Technical Solutions (CTS), who build bespoke applications and tools for customers that allow them to integrate more closely with dotmailer and make life easier. Second, Technical Pre-sales, which spans our 3 territories (EMEA, US and APAC) and works with prospective and existing clients to figure out the best solution and fit within dotmailer.
What accomplishments are you most proud of from your dotmailer time so far?
I would say so far it has to be helping to turn the CTS team from just 2 people into a group of 7 highly skilled and dedicated men and women who have become an intrinsic and valued part of the dotmailer organization. Also I really enjoy being part of the Senior Technical Management team. Here we have the ability to influence the direction and structure of the platform on a daily basis.
Meet Darryl Clark – the cheese and peanut butter sandwich lover
Can you speak a bit about your background and that of your team? What experience and expertise is required to join this team?
My background is quite diverse from a stint in the Army, through design college, web development, business analysis to heading up my current teams. I would say the most valuable skill that I have is being highly analytical. I love nothing more than listening to a client’s requirements and digging deep to work out how we can answer these if not exceed them.
As a team, we love nothing more than brainstorming our ideas. Every member has a valid input and we listen. Everyone has the opportunity to influence what we do and our motto is “there is no such thing as a stupid question.”
To work in my teams you have to be analytical but open minded to the fact that other people may have a better answer than you. Embrace other people’s input and use it to give our clients the best possible solution. We are hugely detail conscious, but have to be acutely aware that we need to tailor what we say to our audience so being able to talk to anyone at any level is hugely valuable.
How much of the dotmailer platform is easily customizable and when does it cross over into something that requires your team’s expertise? How much time is spent on these custom solutions one-time or ongoing?
I’ll let you in on a little secret here. We don’t actually do anything that our customers can’t do with dotmailer given the right knowledge and resources. This is because we build all of our solutions using the dotmailer public API. The API has hundreds of methods in both SOAP and REST versions, which allows you to do a huge amount with the dotmailer platform. We do have a vast amount of experience and knowledge in the team so we may well be able to build a solution quicker than our customers. We are more than happy to help them and their development teams build a solution using us on a consultancy basis to lessen the steepness of the learning curve.
Our aim when building a solution for a customer is that it runs silently in the background and does what it should without any fuss.
What are your plans for the Custom Tech Solutions team going forward?
The great thing about Custom Technical Solutions is you never know what is around the corner as our customers have very diverse needs. What we are concentrating on at the moment is refining our processes to ensure that they are as streamlined as possible and allow us to give as much information to the customer as we can. We are also always looking at the technology and coding approaches that we use to make sure that we build the most innovative and robust solutions.
We are also looking at our external marketing and sharing our knowledge through blogs so keep an eye on the website for our insights.
What are the most common questions that you get when speaking to a prospective customer?
Most questions seem to revolve around reassurance such as “Have you done this before?”, “How safe is my data?”, “What about security?”, “Can you talk to my developers?”, “Do I need to do anything?”. In most instances, we are the ones asking the questions as we need to find out information as soon as possible so that we can analyse it to ensure that we have the right detail to provide the right solution.
Can you tell us about the dotmailer differentiators you highlight when speaking to prospective customers that seem to really resonate?
We talk a lot about working with best of breed so for example a customer can use our Channel Extensions in automation programs to fire out an SMS to a contact using their existing provider. We don’t force customers down one route, we like to let them decide for themselves.
Also, I really like to emphasize the fact that there is always more than one way to do something within the dotmailer platform. This means we can usually find a way to do something that works for a client within the platform. If not, then we call in CTS to work out if there is a way that we can build something that will — whether this is automating uploads for a small client or mass sending from thousands of child accounts for an enterprise level one.
What do you see as the future of marketing automation technology? Will one size ever fit all? Or more customization going forward?
The 64 million dollar question. One size will never fit all. Companies and their systems are too organic for that. There isn’t one car that suits every driver or one racquet that suits every sport. Working with a top drawer partner network and building our system to be as open as possible from an integration perspective means that our customers can make dotmailer mold to their business and not the other way round…and adding to that the fact that we are building lots of features in the platform that will blow your socks off.
Tell us a bit about yourself – favorite sports team, favorite food, guilty pleasure, favorite band, favorite vacation spot?
I’m a dyed in the wool Gooner (aka Arsenal Football Club fan) thanks to my Grandfather leading me down the right path as a child. If you are still reading this after that bombshell, then food-wise I pretty much like everything apart from coriander which as far as I’m concerned is the Devils own spawn. I don’t really have a favorite band, but am partial to a bit of Level 42 and Kings of Leon and you will also find me listening to 90s drum and bass and proper old school hip hop. My favorite holiday destination is any decent villa that I can relax in and spend time with my family and I went to Paris recently and loved that. Guilty pleasure – well that probably has to be confessing to liking Coldplay or the fact that my favorite sandwich is peanut butter, cheese and salad cream. Go on try it, you’ll love it.
Your welcome email is the first email that your customers are likely to receive from you. It typically has the highest engagement of any email you are likely to send, and it’s your opportunity to show off what you do and how great you are. It is also a way to thank your customers for buying from you and begin building a relationship with them; yet too many retailers miss this great opportunity. You only get one change to make a first impression.
The non-existent
Office, Sweaty Betty and Hotel Chocolat didn’t send a welcome email at all after signing up. There was no thank you, no offer, and no attempts to capture extra data. This is a lost opportunity for these three companies.
The average
Charles Tyrwhitt, Reebok and Urban Outfitters did send an email after signing up. But their subject lines and content don’t come across like a welcome email and can be easily missed for instance, “15% off your Reebok gear”, “Start Urban Outfitting”, “Hurry, your £10 offer is waiting!” However, their emails are on brand and offer an incentive to take action.
Reebok’s welcome email
If UO replaced its hero image with an animated GIF they would probably see an increase in engagement with their emails.
Urban Outfitters’ email has a nice graphic but a GIF would be more eye-catching
Diesel, Footlocker, Havaianas, Hugo Boss, and Uniqlo also send a timely email shortly after signing up. Yet their emails need a lot of work. They are text-heavy, aren’t on brand and are not particularly engaging. Diesel’s email copy is confusing and tries to get you to create an account.
Lack of branding let Diesel’s email down
All of these brands create a poor initial experience. Footlocker, Fossil and Hugo Boss’s emails are double opt-in emails. This is good for data quality, but it is at the expense of great customer experience. At least Fossil and Hugo Boss’s actual welcome emails are on-brand. But since signing up and confirming my subscription, Footlocker hasn’t sent me a single email.
The welcome email from Hugo Boss
The good
Adidas, Allsaints, Cath Kidston, FootAsylum, Forever21, Jack Wills, Kuoni, Levi’s, Schuh all sent what in my opinion are good welcome emails. They had clear subject lines that welcomed or thanked the user. The copy and design of these emails are on brand and again welcomed the user to the company.
Levi’s welcome email is image-heavy and on brand
Some of the brands like Adidas and Forever 21 included a discount to encourage the customer to engage further, and followed best practice elements to create a positive customer experience.
Adidas offers an incentive in its welcome email
The winner
However, the outstanding winner of the welcome emails goes to FootAsylum.
The email has great use of microcopy throughout.
It contains a clear benefit statement of being a subscriber. The benefit statement also set the expectations of what you’re likely to receive.
They use a great Call to Action “Stop Reading. Start Shopping!”
They are also the only company to use their welcome email to collect further data by having a very obvious preference centre within the body of the email.
Finally, the email is clearly on brand.
Foot Asylum wins the welcome email contest
Tips for welcome emails
Make sure you send it immediately after the customer signs up.
Keep the subject line clear and obvious that it’s a welcome email.
Set expectations for what the customer will receive and how frequently.
Provide a benefit statement for signing up.
Use this email as an opportunity to find out more about your customers.
Use preheader text as a follow on from your subject line.
Provide a safe sender message to encourage customers to add your email to their safe senders.
The top three reasons were People, Product and Opportunity. I met the people who make up our business and heard their stories from the past 18 years, learned about the platform and market leading status they had built in the UK, and saw that I could add value with my U.S. high growth business experience. I’ve been working with marketers, entrepreneurs and business owners for years across a series of different roles, and saw that I could apply what I’d learned from that and the start-up space to dotmailer’s U.S. operation. dotmailer has had clients in the U.S. for 12 years and we’re positioned to grow the user base of our powerful and easy-to-use platform significantly. I knew I could make a difference here, and what closed the deal for me was the people. Every single person I’ve met is deeply committed to the business, to the success of our customers and to making our solution simple and efficient. We’re a great group of passionate people and I’m proud to have joined the dotfamily.
Dan Morris, dotmailer’s EVP for North America in the new NYC office
Tell us a bit about your new role
dotmailer has been in business and in this space for more than 18 years. We were a web agency, then a Systems Integrator, and we got into the email business that way, ultimately building the dotmailer platform thousands of people use daily. This means we know this space better than anyone and we have the perfect solutions to align closely with our customers and the solutions flexible enough to grow with them. My role is to take all that experience and the platform and grow our U.S. presence. My early focus has been on identifying the right team to execute our growth plans. We want to be the market leader in the U.S. in the next three years – just like we’ve done in the UK – so getting the right people in the right spots was critical. We quickly assessed the skills of the U.S. team and made changes that were necessary in order to provide the right focus on customer success. Next, we set out to completely rebuild dotmailer’s commercial approach in the U.S. We simplified our offers to three bundles, so that pricing and what’s included in those bundles is transparent to our customers. We’ve heard great things about this already from clients and partners. We’re also increasing our resources on customer success and support. We’re intensely focused on ease of on-boarding, ease of use and speed of use. We consistently hear how easy and smooth a process it is to use dotmailer’s tools. That’s key for us – when you buy a dotmailer solution, we want to onboard you quickly and make sure you have all of your questions answered right away so that you can move right into using it. Customers are raving about this, so we know it’s working well.
What early accomplishments are you most proud of from your dotmailer time so far?
I’ve been at dotmailer for eight months now and I’m really proud of all we’ve accomplished together. We spent a lot of time assessing where we needed to restructure and where we needed to invest. We made the changes we needed, invested in our partner program, localized tech support, customer on-boarding and added customer success team members. We have the right people in the right roles and it’s making a difference. We have a commercial approach that is clear with the complete transparency that we wanted to provide our customers. We’ve got a more customer-focused approach and we’re on-boarding customers quickly so they’re up and running faster. We have happier customers than ever before and that’s the key to everything we do.
You’ve moved the U.S. team to a new office. Can you tell us why and a bit about the new space?
I thought it was very important to create a NY office space that was tied to branding and other offices around the world, and also had its own NY energy and culture for our team here – to foster collaboration and to have some fun. It was also important for us that we had a flexible space where we could welcome customers, partners and resellers, and also hold classes and dotUniversity training sessions. I’m really grateful to the team who worked on the space because it really reflects our team and what we care about. At any given time, you’ll see a training session happening, the team collaborating, a customer dropping in to ask a few questions or a partner dropping in to work from here. We love our new, NYC space.
Guests and the team at dotmailer’s new NYC office warming party
What did you learn from your days in the start-up space that you’re applying at dotmailer?
The start-up space is a great place to learn. You have to know where every dollar is going and coming from, so every choice you make needs to be backed up with a business case for that investment. You try lots of different things to see if they’ll work and you’re ready to turn those tactics up or down quickly based on an assessment of the results. You also learn things don’t have to stay the way they are, and can change if you make them change. You always listen and learn – to customers, partners, industry veterans, advisors, etc. to better understand what’s working and not working. dotmailer has been in business for 18 years now, and so there are so many great contributors across the business who know how things have worked and yet are always keen to keep improving. I am constantly in listening and learning mode so that I can understand all of the unique perspectives our team brings and what we need to act on.
What are your plans for the U.S. and the sales function there?
On our path to being the market leader in the U.S., I’m focused on three things going forward: 1 – I want our customers to be truly happy. It’s already a big focus in the dotmailer organization – and we’re working hard to understand their challenges and goals so we can take product and service to the next level. 2 – Creating an even more robust program around partners, resellers and further building out our channel partners to continuously improve sales and customer service programs. We recently launched a certification program to ensure partners have all the training and resources they need to support our mutual customers. 3 – We have an aggressive growth plan for the U.S. and I’m very focused on making sure our team is well trained, and that we remain thoughtful and measured as we take the steps to grow. We want to always keep an eye on what we’re known for – tools that are powerful and simple to use – and make sure everything else we offer remains accessible and valuable as we execute our growth plans.
What are the most common questions that you get when speaking to a prospective customer?
The questions we usually get are around price, service level and flexibility. How much does dotmailer cost? How well are you going to look after my business? How will you integrate into my existing stack and then my plans for future growth? We now have three transparent bundle options with specifics around what’s included published right on our website. We have introduced a customer success team that’s focused only on taking great care of our customers and we’re hearing stories every day that tells me this is working. And we have all of the tools to support our customers as they grow and to also integrate into their existing stacks – often integrating so well that you can use dotmailer from within Magento, Salesforce or Dynamics, for example.
Can you tell us about the dotmailer differentiators you highlight when speaking to prospective customers that seem to really resonate?
In addition to the ones above – ease of use, speed of use and the ability to scale with you. With dotmailer’s tiered program, you can start with a lighter level of functionality and grow into more advanced functionality as you need it. The platform itself is so easy to use that most marketers are able to build campaigns in minutes that would have taken hours on other platforms. Our customer success team is also with you all the way if ever you want or need help. We’ve built a very powerful platform and we have a fantastic team to help you with personalized service as an extended part of your team and we’re ready to grow with you.
How much time is your team on the road vs. in the office? Any road warrior tips to share?
I’ve spent a lot of time on the road, one year I attended 22 tradeshows! Top tip when flying is to be willing to give up your seat for families or groups once you’re at the airport gate, as you’ll often be rewarded with a better seat for helping the airline make the family or group happy. Win win! Since joining dotmailer, I’m focused on being in office and present for the team and customers as much as possible. I can usually be found in our new, NYC office where I spend a lot of time with our team, in customer meetings, in trainings and other hosted events, sales conversations or marketing meetings. I’m here to help the team, clients and partners to succeed, and will always do my best to say yes! Once our prospective customers see how quickly and efficiently they can execute tasks with dotmailer solutions vs. their existing solutions, it’s a no-brainer for them. I love seeing and hearing their reactions.
Tell us a bit about yourself – favorite sports team, favorite food, guilty pleasure, favorite band, favorite vacation spot?
I’m originally from Yorkshire in England, and grew up just outside York. I moved to the U.S. about seven years ago to join a very fast growing startup, we took it from 5 to well over 300 people which was a fantastic experience. I moved to NYC almost two years ago, and I love exploring this great city. There’s so much to see and do. Outside of dotmailer, my passion is cars, and I also enjoy skeet shooting, almost all types of music, and I love to travel – my goal is to get to India, Thailand, Australia and Japan in the near future.
At dotmailer we try our best to keep the bad guys out, but if they already have your password, there is very little we can do to detect, and stop them logging in as you…unless, of course, you have already turned on two-factor authentication (2FA). Two-factor in most cases is something you know (your username/password), and something you have (a single use access code or authentication link).
But how do can they get my password in the first place?
There are various ways an attacker may have access to your login details, but some of the possible methods include:
Compromised computer
If the computer you use to log in to your online accounts is infected with malware, it is possible that your keystrokes and even screen captures are being logged and sent back to the bad guys…..yep, including your passwords, and other authentication details.
Snooping on the network
If an attacker has access to the network from which you are logging on to an online service (e.g. public Wi-Fi hotspot), in some cases it may be possible to capture the data as it passes to the server…..yep, including your password, and other authentication details. This is where looking for HTTPS in your browser address bar becomes very important. At dotmailer, all authentication data passes over a secure channel, thus protecting you from this sort of attack.
Credential reuse
It’s really important not to use the same password across different services. We’ve seen an awful lot of very big data breaches in the news recently, and the attackers have been using the stolen authentication details from these breaches to try and log on to other online services…with what seems to be a great deal of success! This sadly means that many people are still using the same password everywhere they go online. This is one of the reasons why your dotmailer password is set to expire, and you are asked for a new one every 90 days; and why you should be choosing something completely different every time. Simply incrementing that number at the end of your password is not cool!
Social Engineering
As we get better at using good passwords, and preventing malware infections; sometime, the bad guys just find it easier to ask us for our passwords. At dotmailer, our support team will never contact you asking for your password.
If one of the above unfortunate events were to happen, 2FA adds another layer of defense, as the attacker would also need access to the authentication link or SMS code. In reality that would mean having access to your mailbox, or mobile phone. We’ve already seen that it’s possible that an attacker has obtained your password due to a compromised computer, or network; which is why we would always recommend using an “out-of-band” communication such as SMS as the means to deliver the 2FA authentication token where possible. dotmailer offers SMS 2FA to all customers. It’s simple to setup, and its free!
Without access to the authentication token, the attacker could of course try and brute force the code, but that is where our other controls such as failed login account lockouts kick in.
How to turn on 2FA in dotmailer
Log in to your account, and click the user icon in the top right, and select Account:
In the resulting window click on the “Account Settings” tab, and scroll down to the “Security” section. Simply tick the Two-factor authentication box, and enter your mobile phone number, and hit save settings at the bottom of the page.
Done! Congratulations, you have just gone one step further in protecting your valuable data.
Now you have protected your dotmailer account, check out TurnOn 2FA and see which of your other online services offer a similar feature, and SWITCH IT ON!
Note: If you are a managed user, you will need to ask your account administrator to do this for you. For obvious security reasons, you will not be able to disable this feature without the help from our support team.
Without a site that’s precision engineered for a good user experience and high conversion rates, all of your email marketing efforts could be going to waste.
Of course, you do want to market your business and email campaigns are statistically proven to be one of the most successful avenues to do so – according to McKinsey, email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter. VentureBeat also released this year that according to their research, email is generating better return on investment than any other channel. So how do you make sure your site is secure and effective enough to keep customers there once your campaign has enticed them this far?
The homepage
For the majority of visitors, your homepage will be the first impression you get to make. A great homepage factors in a number of different ingredients to create the biggest positive impact on the user. Chief of which are…
Engagement
A great homepage is above all engaging, instantly connecting a potential customer with the brand. Engagement comes from a website having personality and a clear message, a customer should feel comfortable with the design and want to interact with it. Take the example below – Mardon, an international seafood import and export company. The large cinematic image captures attention, while the well positioned brand and informative footer let the user know who they’re interacting with. The elements on the page come together to create a beautiful and simple looking design with the feel of a company you can trust and, as a result, want to engage with.
mardon.com designed and built by Nublue.co.uk
The human element
In most cases (and where relevant), adding a human element to your homepage will encourage a positive reaction from users. Having a real life human being can enable customers to relate to your business and products more effectively. We believe in this philosophy so much that our own staff feature heavily throughout our site. Using actual staff members allows you to showcase your people, your greatest asset.
The www.nublue.co.uk homepage
Excellent user experience
Once you’ve made an excellent first impression, you’ll need a functional and user-friendly website that ensures customers aren’t left frustrated by complex navigation or slow load times. Simple, intuitive menus and navigation alongside a website that’s fast enough to keep your users from having to wait.
Load speed is critical. According to surveys done by Gomez.com, 79% of online shoppers who have trouble with web site performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again. There are also statistics that suggest consumers will abandon a site that isn’t loaded within three seconds. High performance hosting is vital to addressing this issue and your site could benefit from the use of a CDN. CDN (Content Delivery Networks) improve speed by offloading your site’s static content – such as images and CSS. This frees up your hosting package to serve only the dynamic parts of your site. The result is a faster, smoother running site, regardless of the user’s location.
Better conversion processes
Trying to get people to make a purchase from an email isn’t easy and the fewer potential stumbling blocks you put in a customer’s way the better.
For ecommerce sites, an optimised checkout with guest login will produce a much smoother, simpler and more effective conversion process. Offering guest login at checkout gives the user an option of either signing up for an account or checking out without doing so, and prevents losing any sales at the last moment.
Another best practice is to introduce ‘trust signals’ so that customers feel confidence in buying from your site. Trust signals range from having visible reviews and testimonials onsite, to things like SSL certificates – which are visible in the url bar and prevent third parties seeing or accessing a customer’s personal details between their browser and your server, through encryption.
An expert design and development team will together implement the best features and functionality using a user-centric approach to ‘reverse-engineer’ your site. Effectively creating the best and simplest customer journey, improving both customer experience and conversion levels, whilst making it as quick and easy as possible for customers to buy from you.
Summary
When sending an email campaign, it’s vital that your website is not the weak link in the marketing chain and that leads are clicking through to a secure and effective page. At the heart of an effective website is a full understanding of your audience and the expertise to clearly guide them through the actions you want them to take. This is ultimately accomplished through user friendly navigation and beautiful and engaging design.
The site’s features and functionality need to be thought about and in order to get a website that’s fast enough, you’ll need a tailored, high performance hosting solution – such as CDN.
This post was created by Nublue, a web hosting and Magento ecommerce agency and partner of dotmailer.
Australia has a resident population of more than 24 million and, according to eMarketer, the country’s ecommerce sales are predicted to reach A$32.56 billion by 2017. The country’s remote location in the APAC region means that unlike European countries or the USA, traditionally there have been a lack of global brands sold locally.
Of course, we also know that many expatriates, particularly from inside the Commonwealth, have made Australia their home and are keen to buy products they know and love from their country of origin.
All of these factors present a huge and potentially lucrative opportunity for non-Australian brands wanting to open up their new and innovative products to a fresh market, or compete for market share.
But it’s not just non-Australian retailers who are at an advantage here: Australia was late to the ecommerce party because native, established brands were trading well without it. Subsequently, Australian retailers’ ecommerce technology stacks are much more recent and not burdened by legacy systems. This makes it much easier to extend, or get started with, best-of-breed technologies and cash in on a market that’s booming. To put some of this into perspective, Magento’s innovative ecommerce platform currently takes 42% of Australia’s market share and the world’s first adopter of Magento 2.0 was an Australian brand.
The GST loophole
At the moment, local retailers are campaigning against a rule that exempts foreign websites from being charged a 10% general sales tax (GST) on purchases under A$1,000. And in 2013, Australian consumers made $3.11 billion worth of purchases under A$1,000.[1]
While the current GST break appears to put non-Australian retailers at an advantage, Australian-based brands such as Harvey Norman are using it to their advantage by setting up ecommerce operations in Asia to enjoy the GST benefit.
Australian consumers have also countered the argument by saying that price isn’t always the motivator when it comes to making purchasing decisions.
It’s not a place where no man has gone before
Often, concerns around meeting local compliance and lack of overseas business knowledge prevent outsiders from taking the leap into cross-border trade. However, this ecommerce passport, created by Ecommerce Worldwide and NORA, is designed to support those considering selling in Australia. The guide provides a comprehensive look into everything from the country’s economy and trade status, to logistics and dealing with international payments.
Global expansion success stories are also invaluable sources of information. For instance, it’s not just lower-end retailers that are fitting the bill, with brands like online luxury fashion retailer Net-a-Porter naming Australia as one of its biggest markets.
How tech-savvy are the Aussies?
One of the concerns you might have as a new entrant into the market is how you’ll reach and sell to your new audience, particularly without having a physical presence. The good news is that more than 80% of the country is digitally enabled and 60% of mobile phone users own a smartphone – so online is deeply rooted into the majority of Australians’ lives. [2]
Marketing your brand
Heard the saying “Fire bullets then fire cannonballs”? In any case, you’ll want to test the waters and gauge people’s reactions to your product or service.
It all starts with the website because, without it, you’re not discoverable or searchable, and you’ve nowhere to drive people to when running campaigns. SEO and SEM should definitely be a priority, and an online store that can handle multiple regions and storefronts, like Magento, will make your life easier. A mobile-first mentality and well thought-out UX will also place you in a good position.
Once your new web store is set up, you should be making every effort to collect visitors’ email addresses, perhaps via a popover. Why? Firstly, email is one of the top three priority areas for Australian retailers, because it’s a cost-effective, scalable marketing channel that enables true personalization.
Secondly, email marketing automation empowers you to deliver the customer experience today’s consumer expects, as well as enabling you to communicate with them throughout the lifecycle. Check out our ‘Do customer experience masters really exist?’ whitepaper for some real-life success stories.
Like the Magento platform, dotmailer is set up to handle multiple languages, regions and accounts, and is designed to grow with you.
In summary, there’s great scope for ecommerce success in Australia, whether you’re a native bricks-and-mortar retailer, a start-up or a non-Australian merchant. The barriers to cross-border trade are falling and Australia is one of APAC’s most developed regions in terms of purchasing power and tech savviness.
We recently worked with ecommerce expert Chloe Thomas to produce a whitepaper on cross-border trade, which goes into much more detail on how to market and sell successfully in new territories. You can download a free copy here.
[1] Australian Passport 2015: Cross-Border Trading Report
[2] Australian Passport 2015: Cross-Border Trading Report
Penguin caused many in the local SEO world to become wary of link building, but there are still plenty of white-hat methods to garner links to local businesses. Columnist Will Scott explores three such tactics.
The post 3 practical local link building ideas that will cure your Penguinitis appeared…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
