As 2014 comes to a close, many of us will be drawing up New Year’s resolutions to refresh and refocus ourselves heading into 2015. Often resolutions include grandiose goals, such as “save $10,000 for our Hawaii getaway”, “write a novel” or “lose 30 pounds”. These resolutions would be amazing to achieve (have confidence, people!), however, they are lofty. So I also like to set smaller, more attainable micro resolutions to help me along the way. I suggest that same philosophy to customers as they set their personalization and testing goals for the year. In addition to your primary, long-term objectives, identify some short-cycle goals you can achieve throughout the year. Below are five suggestions to kick-start your 2015 plans:
- New year, new creative. Keep new and returning customers coming back post-holiday with updated abandoned cart lightbox and reminder email messages. Update creative quarterly and stay on-brand with specific copy tone, styling and logos. Bonus: align your major promotional codes with creative updates to likely push conversion.
- Out with the old, in with the new. Change the color on ‘Clearance’ or ‘Sale’ navigational elements to draw attention to these discounted promotions and help out your colleagues on the Planning and Inventory teams. Change the color to align with promotional themes and seasons.
- Set a seasonal reminder. Personalize customers’ experience based on past purchase behavior and present a reorder reminder message for seasonal items such as skincare, outerwear, car care or even beach gear for those winter/spring break vacations.
- Check the weather. Using Monetate’s current and forecasted weather targeting, there is no need to showcase winter-focused products to customers in warmer climates. You can exclude this lucky customer demographic and personalize your site with more appropriate products and promotions. P.S. Request winter-focused artwork now to have it tucked away in your creative “toolbox” for the next winter storm.
- It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Just like exercise and training, measuring your accomplishments can claim real momentum to keep your personalization and testing goals moving throughout 2015. Scheduling weekly reporting will provide the proof and inspiration to continually review your online marketing techniques and provide the best user experience for customers.
Wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year.
Lightbulbs illustration courtesy of Shutterstock.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Five Ideas To Kick-Start Your Marketing Goals For The New Year
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