In July, Building Keystones featured pieces about seasonal promotions, the state of the software market, and conversion optimization. The latter topic was covered by our interview with Chris Goward, CEO of Wider Funnel and author of You Should Test That!
For the July Ecommerce Digest we look at industry experts to help us understand the latest trends in online marketing and selling. Specifically, we delve into B2B e-commerce and how Gmail’s new tabs affect open and click rates (not to mention deliverability and reputation). In addition, we explore interesting navigation designs for websites and a new marketing framework to improve content development and performance measurements.
B2B eCommerce Has Arrived | Forrester Blogs – In our ecommerce predictions for 2013, we encouraged B2B software vendors to mirror the online retail shopping experience when it comes to their business customers. Forrester Analyst Andy Hoar doubles down on B2B ecommerce, noting that content and trade shows in this space are growing significantly. Hoar also points to his own research in this area showing B2B marketers how they can improve their customers’ experiences while reducing internal costs.
New Gmail Tabs Impact Email Marketing, Expert Says | Practical eCommerce – Open rates, click rates and deliverability are all at risk thanks to Gmail’s new tabs. While these tabs may help users simplify and clean their inboxes, they can be downright nightmarish for email marketers. This article features analysis from MailChimp and uses simple math to illustrate the challenges these new tabs present.
See, Think, Do: A Content, Marketing, Measurement Business Framework| Occam’s Razor – Digital marketing guru Avinash Kaushak wrote this almost 6000 word essay that reframes the entire marketing process. The classic AIDA model is altered into a “See – Think – Do – Coddle” framework that applies more focus on the dynamic nature of marketing and buying, including a whole section on keeping customers loyal by coddling them. The post includes subsections dedicated to using this new marketing framework for developing content and measuring performance.
Creative And Innovative Navigation Designs | Smashing Magazine – One of the keys to successful ecommerce is optimizing the user experience of your website. This article from Smashing Magazine features 21 unique navigation designs from a variety of websites showing alternative ways designers can enhance user reactions and increase conversions.
