Retailers are upping their online efforts in a bid to improve customer satisfaction, with quantifiable successes being reported.

Both customers in the UK and the US state they are more satisfied with retail sites last year than in 2008; approval has risen by 6.5% in the UK to 71 points, while in the US it has improved to 79 points (based on ForeSee reports). However, this 8 point margin shows that UK retailers should be doing more to improve their sites’ usability and accessibility.

There is also a marked difference in the performance of pure play online retailers vs. store based competitors. On average, those who only sold products & services online scored an extra 4 satisfaction points. The likeliest reason for this is that with resources divided across fewer channels, they have been able to invest more time and money into perfecting their online strategies. Although many store-based retailers offer customers the chance to return faulty products to local branches, the option to reserve and collect products in store is not so widely available.

However, according to eMarketer, this is to change: 50% of multi-channel retailers state this as one of their principle aims for 2010 in order to increase efficiency and improve sales, and expect to have it in place by the end of the year.

Smaller independent retailers with multiple stores who wish to introduce greater online / offline and inter-store integration for the benefit of their customers should read about Docnet’s electronic point of sale (EPOS) system. We’ve just posted a new page outlining the benefits & features of EPOS, so if you count yourself amongst the forward thinking 50% of retailers this year, and want to increase sales and reduce costs, visit it today and contact us with any questions you may have.

The question is, ‘Is it really worth the effort?’

Perhaps you're an avid Twitter, Facebook and blog-user in your private time, or maybe you have only the faintest notion what those phrases mean. Whichever camp you're in, you're probably wondering how (or even if) social media can be usefully applied to a B2B company. We're here to show you how it can.

Some B2Bs can be remarkably hard on themselves, claiming they're not interesting enough to command a social media following. Others dismiss it as a drain of productivity; a waste of time, sceptical of social media's ability to generate actual finances.

So why bother?

For an initial expenditure of next to nothing, you get access to an entirely new audience to communicate with; social media is also remarkably easy to use.

* Start Making Friends - Start by inviting and searching for existing contacts and develop it from there: invite the prospects you meet at networking events and business opportunities you acquire through marketing. Publicise your social media accounts on your web site; your email and marketing collateral, and provide an incentive to join to get a healthy following. Then use your accounts to develop promising business opportunities and increase your PR & networking potential.

* Keep It Efficient - Because it's free, social media only costs you the time you put into it. Thankfully, it doesn't have to cost much: most of the main social media sites now integrate with each other, meaning you can update one account and have the rest update automatically. Broadcasting your news across social media suddenly shrinks from a fifty minute chore to five minute job.

* Know Where To Go - You only need to use the main social media sites to achieve a satisfyingly broad coverage (Facebook, Twitter, Del.Ic.Ious, Technorati and LinkedIn are the big five). Keep it simple though: build social media around your business, not the other way round. Docnet doesn't have a Facebook page because we don’t find it relevant, but our staff use Twitter, Del.Ic.Ious and LinkedIn to spread news, attract interest and develop business opportunities. Pick and choose the channels you prefer, and add more later on if the need arises.

* Get Known - Finally, in the world of B2B sales where competition is fierce and differentiation hard to come by, having a social media presence automatically singles you out as a different breed of business from the rest. It will also help you to publicise how ethical, environmentally-friendly, innovative, efficient and approachable you are by using it parallel to traditional PR and advertising efforts. This will ensure maximum coverage for minimum cost.

And if you still need persuading that social media can help your business? Speak to Docnet for a thorough, truthful diagnosis of your online marketing needs.

'Social' and 'media' are the words on everybody's lips, but how do you use it to generate sales? Indirectly, social media can drive people to your email marketing  program and web site through the power of 'Share With Your Network'. In this blog post, we explore the best ways to go about it.

Regards,

John Coyne

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If list-building feels like a Herculean task to you, try turning to your existing subscribers for help. They can do most of the leg-work by sharing the content on their favourite social networks. All you have to do is write share-worthy content and give subscribers the means to pass that content on.

You can increase incoming traffic from these networks by as much as 2,000%, and increase engagement with the content by 25% (MarketingSherpa) by harnessing the power of word of mouth (or as it has recently been dubbed, ‘word of web’). To get the most out of sharing to social networks, do the following:

* Identify the most popular and relevant social networks used by your subscribers; online surveys, monitoring current incoming traffic etc.

* Place share buttons strategically in your email campaigns; don’t hide them below the fold, place them next to summaries of your most share-worthy content

* Test the new buttons on a segment of your email list before rolling it out across the board; this will help you iron out any mistakes through trial and error for maximum effectiveness

* Include a note to subscribers with the email explaining how the buttons work when you introduce them

With this strategy in place, it’s time to set up some monitoring and measuring procedures to evaluate the project’s success. Suitable metrics include how many times people click on the buttons (easy to measure with an email marketing provider’s analytics tools) and the amount of incoming traffic.

By encouraging subscribers to share content in this way, you will find more organic, relevant signups to your newsletter and increase the likelihood of conversions. Take some time off from list building and let your subscribers do the ‘work’ for a change.

Some mid-week food for thought, we've tried putting a new spin on an old story to illustrate how email marketing benefits when you team it up with other marketing channels - in this case, direct mail - and integrate your sales process.

See what you can take away from this blog post and apply to your business today. And of course, any questions, just leave a comment.

Kind Regards,

John Coyne

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Taking some artistic license with the original fable (which I hope you’re all familiar with) imagine for a second that the tortoise and the hare are racing for the same team. No matter which one wins, their team will get the prize money. Now instead of seeing each other as competitors, the two of them decide to put their heads together and come up with a mutually beneficial strategy; one that is based on their unique attributes and gives them each a higher chance of winning and taking the prize money home.

Suffice to say your marketing channels should not be competing against one another when trying to win business. They should be playing supportive roles.

A recent study has shown that as few as 16% of direct-mail campaigns, including flyers, postcards, magazines and brochures ever ask for an email address. Many recipients stated they would be happy to include an email address provided there was an incentive, so where is the sense in not asking for this information? As long as it isn’t made obligatory and impedes on the main offer, the worst that can happen is the recipient says ‘no’.

These days, it isn’t enough to be multi-channel when the channels aren’t integrated. In fact, you risk annoying customers and causing more problems than if you were single channel, with stock allocations being fought over, customer preferences being ignored etc. Look into ways of combining your multiple marketing channels and feeding them into a customer relationship management (CRM) program. This way you could convert more prospects into customers through a variety of different channel combinations.

And remember: email can learn as much from direct-mail as vice versa. For instance, does your email marketing ask for subscribers' postal addresses as well? Not only will collecting this data help you profile and segment your mailing lists accordingly, it will help you to target direct mail campaigns for stronger offers. So make sure your marketing channels are all on the same team and we'll see you at the finish line.

With apologies to Aesop