As a startup owner, are you struggling with leaving an impression on your target audience's minds?In this guide, we'll show you how to create a brand identity—one that will keep echoing your brand.But first, let's define brand identity.
Marketing has so many industry-specific terms that people often get their meanings interchanged. A couple of these is brand and brand identity. Before we talk about how to create a brand identity, let's differentiate these two terms.
In essence, a brand is intangible, while brand identity is tangible. A brand defines how your audience perceives your business. You can shape your brand through various branding activities, from designing a user-friendly product page to training hospitable customer service representatives. Must-Read: How to Make Your Brand Stand Out with Online Branding Your brand creates a promise to your audience. And by keeping that promise, you can turn them into loyal customers who know what to expect from your business. On the other hand, brand identity makes up the tangible assets of your brand. It focuses on what your audience can see, touch, hear, or even smell. By forming your brand's look and feel, it can generate brand recognition among your audience and create differentiation from your competitors. Take for example Apple—the most valuable brand in the world.
The brand focuses on emotions, particularly positive feelings. It always puts user experience first, resulting in products and services that make customers feel good. Meanwhile, its brand identity is most recognizable through its logo. Plus, its products have the familiar sleek designs, creating the impression that the brand is one-of-a-kind and innovative. Through these branding efforts, it's no wonder Apple became the world's most valuable brand.
Your brand identity covers more than your logo—it's also your color palette, website, typography, and other supporting graphics.With these elements, you can illustrate a particular image in your customers' minds, which they'll associate with your product or service.When you learn how to create a brand identity, you hold the power of forging how your audience sees your brand.It's why you need to go all out when creating one. Every element must be consistent with your brand and your overall business goals.
For startups, a brand identity is a crucial asset.When your marketing, design, and messaging are aligned, you can have a consistent identity that will fuel brand recognition among your audience.And once they put your brand first, you're on your way to becoming a successful business.Doesn't that sound appealing?So, here's a nine-step process on how to create a brand identity for your startup.
Before you get your brand out to your market, the first in your to-do list must be to identify your mission—the "why" of your business. Your mission provides an answer to, "Why does my business exist?" By defining your goals, your mission becomes the starting point for everything that you bring to your audience. Another element that holds a key role in your internal analysis is your values as a business. Values humanize your brand. An audience can easily relate to a brand that reflects their values and incorporates these to their marketing, products, services, and even customer service staff. To get to know your business better, conduct a SWOT analysis—a planning technique where you identify your strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T).Through this analysis, you can develop brand values and a mission that considers these factors.
By now, you must have an idea of the audience that you want to turn into your customers.After you identify your mission and brand values, defining your target audience comes next.You can start by conducting market research.Surveys let you gather information from a chunk of your audience. Interviews and focus groups are also a good option if you want a closer look at smaller sample size.Moreover, based on your market research, you can also create buyer personas.They represent a group of your audience, defining their traits and demographics to help you see what kind of personality your brand must have to appeal to them.Through these methods, you'll have a deep understanding of your target market.HubSpot has a simple MakeMyPersona tool that you can use to craft your buyer personas.
After you learn about their needs and challenges, make every decision about your brand with your audience in mind.
Studying your competition is the third step on how to create a brand identity.A competitive analysis allows you to learn the activities of your competitors. It can clue you in on how to differentiate your brand from their positioning.A lack of understanding of your competitive landscape may prevent your brand from standing out. When conducting a competitor analysis, look out for the following:
These items can show how your brand compares to your competitors'.Using them as a reference, you can determine which strategies to implement to boost your brand's presence, relevancy, and uniqueness.Plus, you can see gaps in the market, allowing you to take advantage of new opportunities that your competitors haven't done.
This is where the results of your market research and competitor analysis come together.A unique selling proposition (USP) indicates three things:
By determining what you can offer to your customers that others can't, you can establish your positioning in the market.A USP doesn't need to be complicated—all it needs is to be clear and reflective of your mission and values.Start with your customers by identifying what they care about. In doing so, take into consideration your resources.You can then form your USP by establishing which customer concern you can address and solve with your resources.Check out WordStream's "How to Write a Ferocious Unique Selling Proposition" for a more in-depth guide on creating a strong USP.
A brand personality consists of the characteristics attributed to your brand.Embodying all the good qualities sounds like the best option. However, that isn't ideal.Your audience must find you relatable.Being likable is sufficient for your brand personality, primarily if it reflects your brand values. The key is to build a consistent perception, not a perfect one.It can affect the tone and voice in your marketing collaterals and other communication materials. Plus, in the long-run, it can help you form an emotional connection with your customers.Start with how your brand communicates with your audience. Even your language can show the kind of personality you want to project.
The look and voice of your brand make up your creative assets.Take your findings from your internal audit, market research, and competitor analysis and consider them when developing your creative assets—these must be recognizable to your brand.With that said, here are the essential elements of brand identity:
First impressions last, even longer if you have a great brand name.According to Michael Rader, founder of Brandroot, a brand name allows a business to associate its brand with positive connotations.Therefore, brand name plays a huge role in your business.So, when creating one, take note of the following tips:
Originality is not the only key to standing out, but it sure is an ingredient to boosting your brand. Plus, in this digital age, an original brand name is helpful when registering domains and generating social media pages.
A long and complicated brand name is a big no-no—being understood matters more.A simple brand name is less challenging to pronounce, and it can easily project your brand's mission and values.
What's the point of having a brand name if your audience quickly forgets it? A brand name must appeal to your audience by conveying emotions. That way, they can easily connect those emotions to your brand. And when you satisfy your customers, your memorable brand name allows them to have an easier time when doing word-of-mouth marketing. Pro Tip: A slogan comes hand-in-hand with a brand name. It's a short and catchy phrase that your marketing materials can feature to announce your brand's promise to your customers.
Pictures speak a thousand words, and logos are a striking proof of that.As your central visual asset, it's the brand identity element that your audience will see the most. Your logo communicates your brand, from what you value to what you stand for.Here are some essential characteristics that your logo must have:
Additionally, don't forget that it should be consistent with your brand name. Together, they can leave a mark on your audience's minds.
Who says words can't be visually appealing?A cohesive communication across your channels includes typography.The right typeface for your brand contributes to forming your visual language, along with the other elements of your brand identity.Let's go through this short guide about the type of fonts and the message they communicate:
When deciding on your primary and secondary fonts, choose the ones that look well together with your logo and color palette. Avoid gimmicky fonts and try to stick to one to two font families for a more consistent look.
Colors can bring benefits to your brand identity. They convey universal emotions, which you can use to enhance your communication with your audience. Plus, your brand colors can affect your audience's perception of your brand. Knowing about their messages can help you pick the right ones for your brand, so here's a quick guide on the meanings of the most common colors:
Whatever colors you choose for your color palette, they must reflect your brand's purpose and intent. Check out Canva's suite of brand color palettes that can inspire your own. Using your color palette, you can differentiate your brand from your competitors. At the same time, you can build designs for your business that are unique to your brand identity.
One of the goals of having a brand identity is to achieve a cohesive look and feel across all your assets. A brand style guide helps ensure that you meet the qualities and standards of your branding for every design. It should cover the various elements of your brand identity, plus how and when to use them. Aside from that, a brand style guide includes the do's and don'ts of your brand identity design, from how your logo appears on an Instagram post to how you design your emails for your newsletter subscribers. By covering this information, you won't need to figure out how to create a brand identity in any future design, thereby generating a consistent audience perception.
After developing your creative assets, the next step is to bring them to your market. Brand strategies will support the growth of your brand awareness. You can start with your website design and your social media presence—these can communicate your brand identity to your target audience. On your website, your brand identity takes center stage. It can communicate your brand everywhere, from your site's color palette to product photos' style. Your website serves as an online portfolio that showcases your brand identity. Meanwhile, your social media platforms can bring you closer to your target audience. You can take this opportunity to introduce your brand's voice and appeal to a particular demographic. However, that's only the start. Even the frequency of your posts can speak volumes about your brand. Sprout Social has compiled studies on social media demographics—a resource that can inform you of your choice of social media platforms.
The last step must be a never-ending process. You can sustain your brand identity through brand monitoring, a process wherein you look out for mentions of your brand, online and offline. That way, you can see how consumers talk about you. And if you learn that you need to refine your brand, you can implement changes based on their feedback, whether to correct a mistake or improve your brand identity. By monitoring your brand, you'll ensure that you continue to keep its promises to your target audience.
Brand identity takes time to mold. On top of that, you'll have to frequently check in on it based on how your brand performs. However, your brand identity efforts can yield the best results, especially for a new business .It can leave a mark in your new customers' minds, forming a memorable brand that they won't trade for another. KDCI Outsourcing understands these challenges and processes. With that said, we can guide you on how to create a brand identity. Our logo and brand specialists can support your branding efforts while you'll have more time to focus on growing your new business. Discover the Benefits of Outsourcing Creative Services
Email design has an essential role in a business’ marketing and sales strategies. The more personalized an email looks, the better. However, without the right design eye for UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience), your email design may not work to your advantage.In this article, we will show you how to design your emails and how email design affects click-through rate (CTR).
Click-through rate or CTR is one of the most critical metrics in email marketing. It tells if your content has persuaded your readers enough to make an action.However, even with great content, if your email doesn’t catch your readers’ attention, you won’t reach your email marketing goals. So, here’s how you design your emails for better CTR:
In general, the 600px email width rule is an ideal size and dimension to follow. This rule has been used by most marketers ever since the dawn of email marketing. Back when Microsoft Outlook was the leading email client, and the average desktop monitor had 1024px.These days, Gmail stands as the most used email client, with more than 1.5 billion users worldwide. However, this general rule can only be extended up to 640px. Anything beyond that, Gmail won’t show your background color.In terms of height, there are no constraints. However, you must always push your relevant content where your readers can immediately see it (between 300px to 500px high).This rule is essential, especially when you’re running promotional or lead generation campaigns where CTR is a valuable metric.
A 2019 email analytics report released by Litmus, an email marketing company, found that 42% of all emails were opened using smartphones or tablets. Therefore, optimizing your email design for mobile is essential to maintain readability, unlike in the right mobile view in the image below:
Image credit: Campaign MonitorLuckily, most email marketing service providers already know this and will most likely create a responsive email design without you asking. Meanwhile, if you want to do it yourself, most email marketing platforms also give you the ability to see your email design from different devices easily.As a rule of thumb, there are five things you need to remember for responsive email design:
In email marketing, the header is the best place for branding and other marketing efforts since it’s the first thing your readers see when they open your email. Therefore, ensure that your email header design is brand-identifying.Be careful not to try to put too much in the header. You wouldn’t want to overwhelm your readers with too much information because that could increase your bounce rate and hurt your CTR.Additionally, your email header should be versatile. Meaning, it should fit whatever type of email you’re trying to send, be it newsletters, promotions, announcements, and more. That way, you don’t have to design different headers for every email type you want to send.Here are some examples of good email headers:
Canva’s newsletter is clean, simple, and direct. It immediately tells you what to expect with a simple logo and a title, “Weekly Newsletter.” Followed by a clear and concise introduction.
Zalora’s FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) email has a navigation header design so that readers can easily visit individual pages on their website. It goes perfectly with their FOMO content since they want you to purchase something from their store.
Shopify’s reminder email immediately tells you about the content of the email with a straightforward subject line. Notice that they have also included a button for logging in so that their subscribers can quickly visit their website through the email.
If there’s anything more important in an email, it’s readability. From a content perspective, it’s all about bringing forward quality content that your readers would want to see.In design, you have to make sure that your readers read the content by designing a good body, using the right font or fonts, and making CTA buttons pop. All of these factors have a direct impact on CTR.To design a good email body, there are three best styles that you can use:
Dynamic content in emails is content that changes or adapts based on user data, behavior, or preferences. Here’s an example of dynamic email content from Grab Philippines:
In this case, they used their user’s data, like name and location, to customize the body of their email. Design-wise, adequately sized images that still let you see delicious food allow them to push more suggestions without sacrificing quality.
The inverted pyramid model has three elements: Attention-grabbing content, anticipation-building, and call-to-action.This model allows writers and designers to structure any piece of content based on information that needs to be prioritized.For designers, the attention-grabbing element could be an image or large font, the anticipation-building part could be a small gray text, and the CTA button is sized in such a way that it’s easily seen.Here are some examples of the inverted pyramid model:
Image credit: Campaign Monitor
If you want a safer approach, a single-column layout is the best option because it adapts smoothly to both mobile and desktop views. It’s smooth to navigate and straightforward, so users can quickly scan through the information and immediately know what to do next.
Here’s a sample of Samsung’s single-column promotional email. It has simple design and content, which immediately tells the user what the email is about, and what they want the user to do.
Font style and size in email design is pretty much the same as design best practices for font: don’t use more than two font types, and prioritize readability over aesthetics.Keep in mind that you want your emails to be easy on the eyes, so you have to use font types that are easy to read, like the combination of Serif and Sans Serif. Additionally, choose the most web-safe font style to ensure that it displays correctly in all media.Meanwhile, CTA buttons are where your CTR data will come from, so they must be the easiest to see. Here are some quick guidelines for CTA buttons that convert:
While adding social links doesn’t have a direct impact on your CTR, it’s still best to add them to your emails for a more professional look. It also helps your users know that you have social media accounts, which can help drive more followers and engagement.
Just like social links, the email footer doesn’t necessarily have a direct effect on your CTR. However, the footer can affect the professionalism and legal compliance of your emails as per the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. Here are the essential elements of the email footer:
For starters, you must have an easy opt-out button. The visible unsubscribe button or link is required as per the CAN-SPAM, and it builds trust with your readers.
Another requirement of the CAN-SPAM Act, you must add your contact information, which may include a link to your site, your mailing address, and contact email address.
While a copyright mark, year, and copyright owner establish your email’s credibility, it doesn’t have to stand out in your footer.
Including a link to your privacy policy is common for businesses that handle sensitive data of their customers, like credit card numbers.Now, in terms of design, you must create a hierarchy based on what you want your readers to see first. Also, there’s no limit to what you can put into your footer, so don’t hesitate to use the space for less important CTA buttons, sign offs, social links, and other information.
Does Email Design Affect Click-through Rate?With this information, you might be hesitant to put in all of these design efforts because you’re still unsure if it will work. Luckily, with a properly designed email, you can definitely increase your CTR.A case study conducted by Campaign Monitor showed that they increased their email CTR by 127% after redesigning their blog subscribers’ email.These were their email designs:OLD DESIGN
NEW DESIGN
Image Credit: Campaign MonitorAs you can see, they used content prominence, better design elements, and a more persuasive CTA. To prove their findings, they A/B tested their old design versus their new email layout, and have concluded that their redesign worked in achieving their goal.With UX/UI design experience, an email can be redesigned in such a way that it prioritizes how its readers will react to a particular element.In this case, Campaign Monitor combined a single-column layout and the inverted pyramid model to improve user experience, which ultimately had a positive impact on their CTR.Although it’s also important to point out that design isn’t the only factor that can affect CTR.Relevant content is still the number one thing you have to consider since it’s what your subscribers will value. Without relevant content, a reader won’t care how big your CTA button is or how pretty your email looks.
Email design requires a lot of work, research, and experience to be appropriately utilized to improve click-through rates. Luckily, email design experts from the KDCI Outsourcing Creatives team have UX/UI experience to help you achieve your goal.Visit our Design & Marketing page or Ecommerce Graphic Design Services page for more information and our design portfolio. For inquiries or design quotations, click the button below.Get a quote
With mid-year sales happening left and right, online shopping is just too hard to resist.On the bright side, it's even more convenient amidst the quarantine. On the downside, a virtual swipe of your payment card can potentially expose you to fraud and other data privacy threats.For your online shopping security, here are some tips, plus action items in case you become a victim of fraud.
Implement these precautionary measures before you add to cart and click "Buy Now."
Malware is the umbrella term for viruses, spyware, and other harmful software. Once they find their way into your computer, you're at risk of stolen sensitive information, such as your passwords and banking details.To prevent this, install an anti-malware program, such as Malwarebytes, Norton, and BitDefender. By doing so, you can protect your computer from attacks that can pose a threat to your security.
Well-known Ecommerce sites like Amazon, Lazada, and Shopee are dominating the online market for a reason. Aside from offering everything under the sun, they have earned the trust of consumers.
So, if you're looking up a specific item on Google, the safest route is to check it first on a familiar shopping site. And to be extra careful, read the domain name and look out for a padlock sign and an HTTPS in the address bar. Cyber criminals can also misspell a trusted site's domain for their benefit.
Your bank account is linked to your debit card—it's why you should never use it for your online transactions.Go for your credit card instead. Fraudsters can't use it to the extent that they can use your debit card and wipe out your bank account.
Beware of phishing attempts through email or phone. Never share your shopping site passwords, online banking logins, and card details with anyone. Banks and Ecommerce sites never ask for these sensitive information, so be wary when you encounter inquiries about them. One wrong share of this information can lead to unauthorized purchases.
A one-time password (OTP) is another security layer sent to your mobile to authenticate a login or an online transaction.If you find yourself receiving an OTP without making a recent transaction or login, don't share it with anyone and immediately change the password of the relevant account.
The ability to store your card information on Ecommerce sites is another convenience brought by online shopping. However, this high reward also poses a high risk. Once an individual gets access to your account, they can easily use your card for any purchase on that site.
To prevent a scenario like this, you have two options:
Rather than wait for your credit card bill every month, record your online transactions and keep copies of confirmation notices and order numbers.The best way to do this is to enable email notifications for every transaction you make online. Should you receive a message about anything unfamiliar, you can alert your card company immediately.
Say, you follow all precautionary measures against fraud, and you still find yourself becoming a victim of it. Don't panic—you can still do the following to prevent your situation from becoming worse:
Banks in the Philippines have a 24/7 hotline where you can report fraudulent activities. Plus, they can provide you with more details about the unfamiliar transaction.When calling your bank, take note of the reference number and the date and time of the call. These are helpful details should you need to follow up on your case.
One of the immediate actions you can do after falling victim to fraud is to have the card blocked. Banks such as Security Bank and BPI have provided this option to users of their online banking sites.You can also request your bank to block your card while alerting them about the fraudulent activity.
Here's the part where your record of online transactions comes in handy.Should you encounter any unfamiliar item, you can quickly alert your bank about the transaction.However, if you wait until your credit card statement arrives, you still have at least 30 days to inform your bank about any billing error or discrepancy, according to the Manual of Regulations for Banks.
Finding out that you have compromised accounts means that you need to change your passwords and PINs immediately. Doing so will help prevent more damage to your online activities.When creating your new password, use a password manager with a built-in password generator, such as LastPass and Bitwarden. That way, when you opt for a randomly generated password, you can store it safely in a virtual vault.
Most people can't resist the temptation of online shopping.However, you can never be too careful while making your transactions online. Cyber criminals are prevalent, especially in the middle of this pandemic. It's best to arm yourself with the tips above to defend yourself from fraudulent activities and strengthen your online shopping security.Must-Read: How to Secure Your Online Space While Working Remotely
One of the crucial assets in any business—whether big or small—is a graphic designer. And with remote work potentially becoming the new normal, having a remote graphic designer sounds like the best option.To help you get started, we put together the ultimate guide to finding the ideal graphic designer for your remote team.https://youtu.be/lqVgWeiIqRs
Based on a study done by Adobe, businesses with a firm grasp on design get more satisfied customers and more market share than those with an amateur approach. So, where do graphic designers come in? They help you cross the line between rookie designs that get no love from consumers to professional outputs that encourage your audience to take action. With that said, what exactly can graphic designers produce?
Here are the main types of designs that they can deliver for your business:
Brand identity is an essential part of establishing a new business like yours. It gives your brand an image and a voice through elements such as your logo and color palettes. Graphic designers usually take over these tasks. They can create a visual representation of your brand that will improve your chances of leaving a mark in your audience's mind. Even better, they can develop a consistent branding that can push your business on top of your audience's mind—fueling your brand recognition.
Adapting visuals for your marketing strategy is an advantage—from email newsletters and display banners for your digital campaigns to billboards and POS (point of sales) displays for your traditional advertising. It helps you in more ways than one, from grabbing your audience's attention to generating more social engagement. So, if you want to produce content that will resonate with your target consumers, graphic designers are the right people for this job.
From UI (user interface) to 3D modeling, a web design consists of the visual elements curated to create a satisfying digital experience. If you have an Ecommerce business, having a good web design can help you develop a nuisance-free shopping experience.
Traditionally, editorial layout design comprises newspapers, magazines, and brochures. In the digital world, it mostly covers ebooks, newsletters, and white papers. When doing this type of work, graphic designers consider how the text would look on a page with the background and images. They then produce the final output, which enhances readability without losing its visual appeal.
Most consumers base their purchasing decision on packaging design. It shows that packaging is a practical element that can impact your product's market performance. Graphic designers can develop packaging designs. With their help, you'll have the potential to create a lasting impression, grow your sales, and push your business ahead of your competition.
A graphic designer's responsibilities go beyond creating designs.
Here are the items you'll typically find in a job description for a graphic designer. We'll categorize them into Communication, Planning, Production, Quality Assurance, and Scaling Up.
What makes a graphic designer great? When screening your job candidates, it's best to look out for both soft skills and hard skills. The right mix of qualities and technical capabilities make up an ideal graphic designer.
Soft skills indicate how a person works and how they would interact with your team. The right graphic designer possesses the following qualities:
For a graphic designer, creativity might be the most important skill. Thinking outside the box is a must-do to convey ideas through his designs. With his creativity, he can look beyond the surface and explore the big picture and the minute details. As a result, he can create visuals that express ideas and concepts effectively—and aesthetically.
One of the significant responsibilities of a graphic designer is communicating with stakeholders. To achieve it, he should be capable of active listening. Listening for the sake of replying is a big no-no. Instead, he should know how to listen to understand. Plus, since he'll be working remotely, he must have above-average communication skills to avoid any confusion when discussing project details.
A graphic designer would sometimes need to work with other people in your business. He might have to collaborate with a copywriter to build a compelling ad or team up with another designer to produce a quarterly marketing campaign. With that said, a good graphic designer must be a team player. He should be able to work well with others, commit to his share of work, and provide recommendations that will benefit the entire team.
Juggling multiple projects at once is a common occurrence for a graphic designer. With each task having its due date, he would often encounter tight deadlines. A great graphic designer knows how to prioritize. He should allocate the right amount of time for each task without sacrificing the quality of his work.
This skill should come as second nature to a graphic designer. He must anticipate feedback—whether good or bad—whenever he shares his work with everyone on the team. If he can take constructive criticism without getting defensive, that's a sign of an ideal graphic designer. It indicates that he sees feedback as a way for him to improve his work.
Technology is always evolving, and that includes graphic design. The right graphic designer has the initiative to keep growing. For him, every design trend is a new opportunity to learn. Bonus points if he shares ideas with a creative community. That way, he can also learn from other graphic designers, which he can use to produce better designs.
Hard skills are the specific abilities required to perform a job. Here are the essential technical capabilities you should look out for:
Technology is an integral part of a graphic designer's job. So, he must be comfortable with a wide range of technology, from design software to CMS (content management system) platforms. Plus, it's good to find a graphic designer experienced in tools such as a drawing tablet or a studio camera. These provide added value that you can benefit from once they're part of your team.
Even before its smooth transition from Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Creative Cloud has been every graphic designer's best friend. It can answer most of your design needs. The ideal graphic designer must be proficient in this bundle of applications, especially in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. However, Adobe isn't the only player in the market. In case you're using other applications, a good graphic designer must also display breadth and depth in his working knowledge on other design software such as Sketch and Google Web Designer.
Knowledge of fundamental design principles is a must-have for any graphic designer. Contrast, repetition, proximity, hierarchy, space, balance, alignment, and color are the basic principles that he should know by heart. Developing a keen eye for these visual elements propels a graphic designer into producing better and more visually appealing works.
Typography is crucial in developing designs, especially for those that contain text. A graphic designer skilled in typography should be familiar with fonts that go well together. He must understand the difference between sans and serif styles and know how to avoid typographical errors. Other hard skills would depend on your needs. These specializations might include:
Pro Tip: Check their portfolio! It showcases a candidate's previous works and indicates the technical skills they possess.
The digital age makes it easy to work with a graphic designer from anywhere in the world. With that said, we'll explore your options to find a remote graphic designer. We'll also share their estimated rates to help you see which solution would be the most cost-effective.
An in-house graphic designer works as part of your company—you consider him as your employee. This setup is ideal if you often need design outputs. But if you only want a short-time commitment, an in-house graphic designer may not be necessary. Aside from his salary, you'll have to shoulder software subscription fees as well as overhead costs, such as taxes and utilities. Average Cost: $3,800 per month
Design agencies are full of subject-matter experts. If you choose to partner with them, you'll have several expert designers working with you, depending on your project. On the downside, it's a costly solution. Plus, you'll only be one among their many clients. You might consider that as a disadvantage if you want a graphic designer to focus solely on your business. Average Cost: $7,500 per month
In various freelance websites, you'll find thousands of graphic designers. Some have sufficient experience to meet your expectations. But working with one means you only get what you pay for. You can't add new projects to what you originally agreed upon unless you provide another payment. On top of that, a freelance graphic designer is virtually a stranger. You run the risk of them disappearing without prior notice or facing disruptions like lack of punctuality or inability to meet deadlines. Average Cost: $20 to $150 per hour
Finding a graphic designer overseas is easier with the help of an outsourcing partner. Offshoring is the cheapest option, but you'll still get access to a rich talent pool similar to freelance sites and design agencies. You only have to pay for a fixed monthly rate, unlike with an in-house graphic designer. Your outsourcing partner will cover the rest—from labor costs and service fees to recruitment and HR. However, offshore staffing companies typically require a six-month to one-year minimum commitment. It's not the best option if you only need a remote graphic designer for one short-term project. Average Cost: $1,600 to $1,900 per month
Send us your email and we'll share with you our Offshore Staffing Services rate card.
One of the roadblocks in remote interviews is that you can't have a personal interaction with your job candidates. However, with the right questions, you can easily find the person fit for the role. So, here are some questions you can use when interviewing candidates for a remote graphic designer. For questions specific to remote work, you can also check out our other blog post: Must-Read: Five-Step Process for Screening Remote Employees
Listen to how they articulate their answer. Look out for any mention of the skills we listed above, both qualities and technical capabilities. Take note of the soft skills they list—it can indicate that these are the qualities they possess.
This question is a way to get to know your potential employee beyond their resume. They might see this as an opportunity to narrate their road to becoming a graphic designer. When they do so, enthusiasm for their profession must be evident in their answer.
A creative process is an essential tool for a graphic designer. Every candidate must have a detailed answer prepared for this question. It's your chance to get a peek inside their head and see how they generate ideas and create final deliverables.
Every graphic designer experiences roadblocks. However, great graphic designers have a process in place should they face one. Instead of waiting for inspiration to come around, they already have proactive strategies to deal with a creative block.
Graphic designers often work on multiple projects at once. So, a great designer must know how to prioritize work and perform well under time constraints. Some people have difficulty meeting due dates, while some prefer to work under pressure. Either way, see how confident they are in their ability to meet deadlines.
Great designers aren't too sensitive about their work. They appreciate constructive criticism and use that feedback to improve their output. If they show hesitance to get feedback, it might be a sign of an inflated ego or lack of self-awareness. You can follow-up this question with, "Tell me about a time you received hard criticism about your work." That way, you'll see how they deal with criticism in a real-world setup.
Great designers defend their work professionally and respectfully. If they disagree with the feedback, the key is to support their claim with data. Otherwise, they should be willing to yield to the point and adjust their work based on the feedback. The great finds are designers who believe enough in their work but also know when to concede should they need to make changes.
Audience feedback, click-through rate, and conversion rate are some of the metrics graphic designers can use to measure their designs' success. Even if they're not actively reviewing these metrics, a great graphic designer stays updated with these measurements. They use these data to improve their work.
Professionalism is when a designer can admit to their mistakes. Plus, they know how to be proactive in fixing their oversights. Listen carefully in case they tell a story relevant to the question. It shows that they had experienced it before and learned how to deal with these instances. Even better, they mention their actions to learn from that mistake and their process in place to avoid repeating it.
A graphic designer's day-to-day usually consists of individual work. However, they would sometimes need to work with non-design team members and stakeholders. They must be comfortable either way. Their answer will provide further insights where he'll more likely thrive. Plus, it's helpful in case you assign him to a solo or team-based project.
Every designer should be ready to showcase their best work. For each piece, you can ask them to explain the problem it meant to solve plus how they accomplished it. It's also a good way to gauge their presentation skills. Think of it as a preview of how they present their ideas to stakeholders.
For graphic designers, it's essential to stay on top of every trend in their field. It allows them to keep their designs fresh. Their answer to this question will show if they're passionate enough to follow updates about their specialization. Plus, it indicates their commitment to continuous learning, especially if they're part of a graphic design community.
The ideal graphic designer might be hard to find in various talent pools—you might encounter a skilled freelancer with no tolerance for feedback or a top-notch design agency with skyrocketing costs. However, finding the right person is crucial to your business, especially if you're only starting. It's worth investing your time to find the perfect fit for your team. Should you need a partner in looking for the best remote graphic designer, we can help. We'll support your search for a professional who can handle any type of graphic design, from digital to print. Find Remote Graphic Designers through KDCI
Having a good design is one of the essentials of an online shop. But with more entrepreneurs jumping in the online selling bandwagon, you need more than the basics. A user-centered Ecommerce web design can go beyond your customers' expectations and bring you benefits worth every investment.
For Ecommerce websites, aesthetic design isn't enough anymore.To attract and retain your site visitors' attention, you need to focus beyond your visuals—you need a user-centered design.
A cognitive scientist and usability engineer named Don Norman coined the term user-centered design. It aims to create a pleasurable experience for the user, beginning with the customer experience to the technology rather than the other way around. In general, designers implement it with the user experience in mind. They have two goals: to make the site more usable and useful, always keeping the user at the center of their process.
In Ecommerce, user-centered design seeks to improve the customer experience, from websites to apps. By adopting this process, you can curate experiences that show your understanding of your target audience. When you take your audience as the center of your design process, you can put yourself in their shoes. It allows you to generate insights about their shopping patterns and optimize touchpoints to meet their needs at every stage of their journey.
User-centered design can improve your website's interaction with your customers. Amidst the competition in the Ecommerce marketplace, it's the best next step you can take for your site. See these benefits once you build it into your website:
Among digital channels, search provides the best opportunity to meet and understand user intent. Consider this scenario: A user types a product name in a search bar. Whether for shopping, research, or informational purposes, they show intent the moment they go to a search engine. That's your chance to match what they're looking for.
As a business owner, you'll want to meet your audience's queries. With the right SEO strategy, you can rank high on the search engine results page (SERP) and up your chances of a potential visitor clicking on your listing. The higher you rank in the SERP, the wider your opportunity to generate brand awareness among your target audience.
How is this relevant to web design? Google evaluates if sites are easy to use. Their search algorithm considers the following factors that concern your web design:
Your site must appear correctly in different browsers.
Users can view and navigate your site through different device types and sizes.
Your page loading time must work well, even for users with slow internet connections.
These factors focus on one thing—user experience. When you meet these items, Google will recognize that your Ecommerce site puts user experience first.In turn, you'll see your listing rank higher in the SERP, resulting in two things: a higher organic impression share and a better opportunity to drive traffic to your site.
For Ecommerce sites, having a slow loading time is a big no-no. Let's look at some stats: Based on a study by KissMetrics, 47% of consumers expect a page to load in two seconds or less.
On top of that, if your loading time takes more than three seconds, you lose 40% of your visitors. A one-second delay can already result in 7% fewer conversions. A customer might be a few clicks away from buying a pair of shoes from your online shop, but if your product page takes five seconds to load, you might lose out on a sale.
Think of it this way: If you make $100,000 daily from your site but have a second of delay in your loading time, you could lose $2.5 million in your annual sales. A user-centered Ecommerce web design prevents this from happening at all. Its main goal is to turn your site into a usable and useful shopping experience, wherein your potential customers can quickly move from one page to another.
Meanwhile, you won't have any fear of losing them—your web design will allow you to have a fast loading speed that won't get in the way of your customers' shopping journey.
One of the biggest challenges you'll encounter as an Ecommerce business is cart abandonment. Baymard Institute gathered 41 different articles on cart abandonment. Based on their calculation, the average cart abandonment rate is 69.57%. That's close to seven lost sales out of ten potential customers.
Moreover, among the top triggers of cart abandonment, a "too long/complicated checkout process" ranks third. You'll see that user-centered design is the answer to having a below-average cart abandonment rate and improving your site's profitability. It can increase consumer satisfaction as you assist your customers until the last part of their shopping journey. So, start by removing friction in your checkout process.
With a distraction-free and no-nonsense checkout, you can allow your shoppers to complete their purchase and grow your conversions by 36%. Consider it the best experience you can provide to your customers to make up for the lack of physical interaction.
Must-Read: How to Optimize Your Product Pages for Conversions
You might be thinking, "how can my site design affect my customers' trust?" According to researchers in the United Kingdom, 94% of users who distrust a website have stated that the reason they do is site design. That's why you need to design your website in a way that will foster your customers' trust in your business.
You can start by showing them that you understand them as your customers. With a user-centered design, you can develop a site that will always keep them as a top priority. Empathy is valuable in this process. When you communicate your understanding with your target audience, they'll see that you care about them. When you empathize with them, you can build an ethical design that respects your shoppers' privacy and prioritizes their experience.
Your Ecommerce web design will reflect that you understand your customers' expectations when they're shopping online. Once they see in your site design that you value them, they'll start trusting you. This trust can majorly impact your customers' behavior. The more trust they have in you, the higher your chances of making huge sales. In the long run, your customers will see you as an online shop that's worth building a business relationship with.
Your website provides your brand with an opportunity to shine. It's a direct representation of your Ecommerce business. Think of it this way—your website is a stage and the spotlight is on your business. With a user-centered design, you can bring a positive light to your online store as your site helps generate a good impression on your potential customers.
Your target audience can see this in various elements, from your SERP ranking to your quick loading time to your seamless checkout process. The moment they realize that you focus your site design on them and their experience, the returns can be long-term. Your site visitors turn into customers. After going through a positive customer experience, they can become your advocates. Let them do a little word-of-mouth marketing, and you'll soon see your customer base increasing.
People love to share positive experiences with businesses—even more often now that we have social media. Take this opportunity to develop a user-centered design that will leave you looking better in the eyes of your current and prospective customers.
User-centered web design can bring wonders to your Ecommerce business. It's not a must-try anymore—it's a must-have that will allow you to stay one step ahead of your competition and stand out with your brand. Now that you've learned its benefits, the next step is to get the right web designer in your team.
As an outsourcing company, we provide Ecommerce outsourcing services for web design. Our UI and UX designers will guarantee that your site focuses on your user, and we can turn the benefits above into a reality for your business.
Outsourcing some of your business operations offshore can help maintain production despite coronavirus. With the Philippines being one of the best outsourcing countries in the world, you can expect safe, secure, and proven-effective service from their BPO companies.
However, with over 800 BPO companies in the Philippines, choosing one can be overwhelming. So to help you decide, we’ve listed down ten services to outsource and the best BPO companies that cater to each one.
Filipinos are long known for their hospitality, English proficiency, and a strong connection to western culture. These may be the reasons why their customer service outsourcing has taken the lead over India and Brazil. Some of the services they offer for call center services include customer support, tech support, inbound and outbound sales, telemarketing, and lead generation. The leading call center companies in the Philippines are the following.
Teletech is one of the largest BPO companies in the Philippines that specializes in customer experience. They offer numerous services for customer support, including omnichannel, contact center training, and fraud prevention.
Magellan Solutions is an outsourcing company that specializes in inbound and outbound call center services. Some of their main services include customer support, omnichannel, and multilingual support.
Global Sky is a call center company that specializes in inbound call support, outbound telemarketing, and back office support. The industries they cater to include travel, insurance, healthcare, and consumer industry.
With the consistent rise of Ecommerce businesses all over the world, you wouldn’t be surprised to see BPO companies offering Ecommerce outsourcing. In general, these services are for businesses who want to expand their reach through digital media, retail businesses, and startups. These BPO companies are the best options to outsource work for your Ecommerce business:
With 20 years of experience, KDCI Outsourcing can handle everything Ecommerce. You can choose to hire them for a full-service Ecommerce support or try out their ala carte services so you only pay for what you need. Check out their Ecommerce outsourcing service page for more.
Microsourcing is a large outsourcing company that offers numerous services that may still fit Ecommerce businesses. While they don’t have an all-you-need Ecommerce support, they specialize in Ecommerce customer service.
Outsourced is a BPO company that specializes in offshore staffing. While they don’t have an Ecommerce team to help you, they provide services that can help you build an offshore Ecommerce staff.
Modern strategies have allowed BPO companies in the Philippines to handle marketing services even if they’re on the other side of the planet from their clients. With Marketing as one of the most popular college courses in the country, Filipinos are more than capable of the challenges marketing your brand. Moreover, there are already quite a lot of BPO companies that offer digital marketing services in the Philippines. These companies can handle SEO, Social Media, PPC, Email, and more.
Propelrr is a full-service digital marketing company in the Philippines that specializes in all digital disciplines. They’ve been in service since 2008, and have been featured in numerous companies in the digital marketing industry, including HubSpot, Ahrefs, and Moz.
PurpleClick is a digital marketing services company that specializes in Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Display Advertising, and Mobile Advertising. They offer marketing services for even the most unlikely platforms like Spotify. Check out their pricing page for info.
iManila is a BPO company that specializes in web development and digital marketing. Their main services include website and app development, hosting, technical support, and digital marketing. Find out more about their digital marketing services here.
Recruiting, screening, and hiring the perfect employee to fill job roles for your company can be time-consuming and difficult. It becomes even more challenging if you’re trying to build an offshore team. Luckily, you can hire human resource services through an outsourcing company. They can handle talent acquisition, employee management, and even payroll services. With their help, you will be able to have time and focus on growing your business. The best outsourcing companies that provide human resource services are:
Loft is an HR services company that specializes in leasing support for startups who want an office in the Philippines. They also offer business registration services and other administrative support. Visit their website to find out more.
SuperStaff is a BPO call center company that specializes in recruitment process outsourcing. They offer Sourcing Specialist RPO and Dedicated Recruiter RPO. Learn more about their RPO process here.
SourceFit is a BPO company in the Philippines that specializes in offshore staff leasing services. They offer project- and output-based staffing, staff leasing, virtual captive, and transitional managed services.
Almost all businesses today need an efficient IT infrastructure to conduct their operations and enhance their data security. Luckily, there are numerous IT outsourcing services in the Philippines that can help you from data center management to server administration. Some of the best BPO companies for IT outsourcing services are:
Flexisource IT is an IT company with more than 20 years of knowledge in business, making them capable of offering numerous IT services and staff augmentation, including application development, maintenance and support, and more. Visit their website for more.
Main Source 365 Tech is a full-service IT outsourcing company that specializes in business and home IT solutions. Their business IT services cover server and network monitoring and maintenance, malware and virus protection, backup and disaster recovery, and more.
If you’re looking to build an offshore IT team, Outsourced can help you fill the roles you need. They have a long list of roles they can fill, which includes game development, technical counseling, AI developer, and more. Check out their services page for more.
Outsourced accounting services are often hired by middle and high-growth companies because of its cost-effectiveness. With business and accounting as one of the most saturated workforce in the Philippines, there will also be a lot of BPO companies offering the service. To help you choose which company to work with, here are the three best options:
The Outsourced Accountant is one of the leading providers of outsourced accounting services. They can help you with numerous accounting and finance roles, including accountants, bookkeepers, corporate secretaries, financial planning assistants, and more.
D&V is an accounting and finance firm based in the Philippines. They specialize in accounting or bookkeeping, management accounting, audit and assurance, financial planning and analysis, statutory reporting and compliance, and payroll. Check out their website for more.
If you want to build an offshore accounting and finance team, KDCI Outsourcing is the best option for you. Their strict confidence policies and high-level security software guarantee safe, secure, and private financial data. Learn more about the roles they can find here.
Virtual assistant services have long been available for as long as outsourcing began. This service can help you with administrative tasks, organizing your schedule, and minimizing repetitive tasks. However, there are numerous BPO companies in the Philippines that offer virtual assistant services, so choosing the best one can be tough. So, to help you decide, here are the three best companies you can hire:
TaskBullet specializes providing VA services for real estate, admin support, sales, lead generation, marketing, and more. They have three pricing models: Starter Bucket ($220.00 for 20 hours), Light Bucket ($540.00 for 60 hours), and Expert Bucket ($1560.00 for 240 hours).
OVA Virtual prides itself on being a female-dominated company that offers top-notch VA services. They also have three pricing options: Starter (20 Hours for $120.00/Week), Professional (30 Hours for $180.00/Week), and Executive (40 Hours for $240.00/Week).
Pepper Virtual Assistant is a B2B BPO company in the Philippines. They’ve been in business since 2009, offering three pricing models: Executive Admin (starts at $550/month), Social Media VA (starts at $550/month), and Customer Support (starts at $750/month).
Creative services cover almost everything under graphic design services and marketing collateral production. With BPO companies, you can expect creative services like website design, logo and branding, print graphics, video post-production, and more. These companies can handle high-volume production and fast turnaround time, which are both essential for creating creative assets. Here are the best choices for creative services outsourcing.
KDCI Outsourcing started as a creative agency that grew into a full-service digital agency. Their extremely meticulous QA process for creative services ensures fewer revisions and faster turnaround. They handle anything graphic design, print graphics, web design, and more.
7th Media Digital is a digital agency that specializes in mobile-friendly websites, graphic design, and animation. Some of their services include eLearning materials production, explainer videos, and branding.
Rocketship Designs is a creative agency in the Philippines that specializes in creating designs for marketing your business. They offer numerous services, including motion graphics, corporate branding, and PR.
For online businesses, web development is one of the most important services they look for in BPO companies in the Philippines. Luckily, the country also has a surplus of developers, and web development is typically offered by outsourcing companies. Here are the three best choices for web development services in the Philippines:
While iManila is a digital marketing agency, they also provide web development services for their clients. They offer web development, app development, and hosting solutions. Find out more about their company here.
Being a full-service outsourcing company, KDCI Outsourcing can also handle any web development work — with even more specialized development services for Ecommerce. They can help you with Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and custom website development.
Marvill is a web development service company that specializes in WordPress, Bootstrap, Joomla, and more. They have three pricing models: Basic Information Website (starts at PHP 85,000 or $1706.36), CRM/Web Application (starts at PHP 250,000 or $5018.72), and Ecommerce Website (starts at PHP 140,000 or $2810.48).
Property management services have become increasingly popular as rental properties are on the rise. With the Philippines' lower cost of labor and long held reputation for excellent call center services, it's easily become a top outsourcing destination for property management, which needs heavy communication, coordination, and problem solving, similar to that of customer service. Here are three best choices for top-notch property management services:
KDCI Outsourcing is a leading business process outsourcing company in the Philippines, known for their long standing property management services, supporting HOAs, rental owners, and homeowners. They offer end-to-end property management services, from omnichannel support services and virtual concierge, to property accounting and mortgage processing. Having worked with multiple real estate businesses, they have a strong track record of customizing their services and building excellent property management teams in the Philippines, with focus on finding staff that integrate well with clients in the United States.
KMC Solutions offers comprehensive property management services, including property maintenance, tenant management, lease administration, and financial reporting. Their team of experts ensures that properties are well-maintained, tenants are satisfied, and all financial aspects are meticulously managed. KMC Solutions also provides customized solutions to meet the unique needs of each property owner.
Santos Knight Frank is a leading real estate services company in the Philippines, offering extensive property management services. They specialize in residential, commercial, and retail property management, focusing on enhancing the value of the properties they manage. Their services include maintenance, tenant relations, financial management, and sustainability practices to ensure long-term property value and tenant satisfaction.
With the continuously growing BPO industry in the Philippines, the country becomes one of the top choices when it comes to outsourcing. So, should you choose to outsource operations to BPO companies in the Philippines, you can expect full satisfaction and support. Published: May 13, 2019Updated: July 1, 2020
Establishing your brand online is only the first step to growing your business. Figuring out how to increase online sales comes next. You'll need Ecommerce strategies that can help you improve your bottom line and support your business in the long-run.
For a business owner, getting on top of Ecommerce trends is as crucial as managing your online store. Before we dive into sales growth strategies, let's take a look at the current state of Ecommerce. Every year, the industry keeps on growing. More brick-and-mortars are populating the online market. In 2019, Ecommerce sales made up 14% of global retail sales, and it's estimated to hit 18% in 2021.This year, the size of the global market can reach 2 billion digital shoppers. It will continue to increase next year as more businesses are learning to adapt to consumers' needs, offering benefits such as convenience and cost-efficiency. With its steady rise, the total value of Ecommerce can achieve $4.13 trillion this year and $4.88 trillion in 2021.Who wouldn't want to have a share of that?
Attracting site visitors and converting them into customers has become more difficult. The key lies in figuring out strategies that will work for you, which can pave the way for your business to become a successful venture. At first, it can be daunting—you might not know where and how you can start to increase online sales. But we got you covered. Here are seven proven Ecommerce strategies that you can try and customize for your business.
Nowadays, you have more ways to reach your audience. However, you won't reach anybody if you try to talk to every consumer through every digital and print marketing channel available. Choosing your marketing channels is an essential step in growing your business. Audience targeting helps you determine which of these channels are worth the investment. With this, you segment a market to focus on a specific group you want to target. In doing so, you can reach people who are interested in your products. Even better, putting your budget on the right channels will prevent you from wasting money on uninterested consumers. Speaking directly to your target audience brings better chances of resonating with them. It can create long-lasting and valuable customer relationships that will lead to more repurchases in the future. The owners of Bushwick Kitchen knew that creating awareness for their product was the key to sales. MixedMade is a combination of raw honey with chili peppers, but more importantly, it's in an entirely new category in the market. Because of this, Bushwick Kitchen implemented the following channel strategies:
The results were impressive. Within ten months, they reached $170,000 in sales. For the 30 days up to Christmas that year, they had a 2,200% growth over the previous months' average. They also had TV appearances on CNBC and Today Show and features on Bon Appetit, Esquire, and Vanity Fair. Bushwick Kitchen has shown that when you target the right channels to communicate your products to your audience, you can create a long-term investment whose returns you can keep harvesting in the long-run.
The way we do content marketing is evolving. In the old days, it used to focus on your audience only. The downside is that since everyone is doing this, you might start to sound like your competitors. With that, now's the best time to create unique content and stand out. The same old posts show up on consumers' feeds and search engine results pages. With unique content, you'll have better chances of capturing your potential buyers' interest and curiosity. To achieve this, you need to lose the fear of creating something that no one has done before. When you deliver unique content, you show your audience that you have expertise in your niche—enough to put twists in the typical content and excite them into building a relationship with your Ecommerce business. Beer Cartel created unique content with their annual Australian Craft Beer Survey. For its second year, it ran from June to July 2017.
Photo credited to Beer Cartel
Their objective was to develop a report to change how consumers, suppliers, and their industry think of beer cartel as a business. In doing so, they wanted to generate publicity for their business, grow their mailing list, and boost their sales. To encourage mass participation, they provided incentives for both businesses and consumers: a free copy of the industry report for the former and a $10 coupon code and a chance to win $500 of craft beer for the latter. The result? Their online revenue increased by 34% from the previous year. Their unique site visitors more than doubled to 128,000, and their email list grew to 30,000 subscribers. The power of unique content knows no bounds. Content that no one has done before is now one of the best ways to turn heads and drive more sales.
For every 7 out of 10 businesses, a multi-channel sales strategy has helped increase their sales. Compared to a single-channel approach, it can drive at least twice the revenue. Aside from that, a multi-channel strategy can have a positive impact on customer loyalty. What's stopping you from bringing your products out of your site and making them available on other platforms? To start, you can choose among online platforms where you can sell to consumers who are not yet aware of your Ecommerce business. From social media to general marketplaces, each has a strength that you can utilize to meet your audience's demands. In general, online shops use social media sites to communicate new products to consumers. You can also use Facebook to accommodate impulse buys—customers can get a transaction done within 30 seconds. On the other hand, consumers who frequent marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have a higher purchase intent. However, products sold through these platforms are made to look like they carry the marketplace's brand. If you're just starting and you want to establish your brand, this can be a disadvantage. Think Crucial found the right sales channels that worked best for them. As an online shop for replacement household items, they knew they needed to be everywhere. This strategy has led to product listings on multiple online retailers and marketplaces like Sears, eBay, Walmart, and Amazon.
As a result, Think Crucial grew into an eight-figure brand. By taking advantage of multiple sales channels, they met consumers where they like to shop. Once you choose to expand to other sales channels, full-service Ecommerce agencies can help you construct attractive product descriptions suited to your choice of platforms. Help Me with Product Uploading
Consumers' attention span is short; it's no surprise that on average, readers only spend 15 seconds on a page. This interaction won't do any good to your bottom line. ZooShoo had the typical problem of customers passing through their site without making any purchase. The solution? They promoted a coupon giveaway using a pop-up. Any site visitor who signs up to their email list would receive a 10% off coupon, applicable to their next purchase. After two months, the online shop's revenue had a 7% growth. Moreover, their subscription list increased by 5,000, with more than a thousand later purchasing from their site. Pop-ups are used not just to collect emails, but also to deliver a message, whether it's a prompt or an offer. On average, pop-ups can generate up to 10% conversion rate (CVR). However, if you execute them well, you can reach beyond a 50% CVR. Don't know which type of pop-up can serve you best? ReferralCandy made a list of pop-ups you can use to increase your sales:
In exchange for their email, customers can receive a treat, from free ebooks to free shipping promo codes.
When customers show intent to leave the site, a pop-up will show up to entice them into completing their transaction.
A pop-up will appear to offer alternative or more items when customers show interest in a particular product.
They are used to drive urgency, whether for a sale that's ending soon or a coupon that will expire in a few hours.
They let the customers know that your business can ship to their location.
Pop-ups generally have a bad rep due to being poorly executed. To prevent yours from getting undeserved hate, you can partner up with a full-service Ecommerce support agency. These companies have web designers that can develop pop-ups that capture the right kind of attention and encourage more site visitors to become your customers.
A crucial part of an Ecommerce business is your checkout process. However, more than half of site visitors leave their carts without buying. A bad checkout process with too many steps can contribute to a decrease in sales and a higher cart abandonment rate. For your checkout process to be effective, include only a few steps and guide customers through a hassle-free transaction. If possible, the whole shopping experience from landing on your page to checkout has to take a minute or less. NatoMounts achieved this when they prioritized an optimal checkout experience. The tech accessory store learned that most of their traffic comes from mobile. Recognizing an opportunity, they devised a 43-second shopping experience, with one-touch payment integration with well-known platforms like PayPal and Amazon. After optimizing for the device that brought the most customers to them, NatoMounts saw their mobile conversion rate increase to 5%, and over 80% of sales were attributed to the mobile visits. Here are some tips you can use for an optimal checkout process:
After applying these techniques, you're on your way to a fully optimized checkout process.
Most Ecommerce businesses face cart abandonment challenges. But don't worry—you can still regain shoppers who left their cart with a cart abandonment email campaign. It's a conversion optimization technique to recover lost sales. Customers who left their carts receive an email, which will remind them about their incomplete purchase. On average, cart abandonment emails have an 8% conversion rate (CVR) with an open rate of 41%.Envolopes.com saw better results when they started to send follow-up emails to customers who didn't complete their purchase. Seeing their opportunity to increase their sales, the online store first tested sending the emails at two alternate time lapses after the cart abandonment. Eventually, Envelopes.com figured out the best time to send the follow-up emails—48 hours after cart abandonment. The emails delivered based on this time lapse had a 38% open rate and a 40% CVR. Now, how do you successfully deliver a cart abandonment email? You can send two to three emails after a customer has left their cart. The first can go out as soon as a customer abandons his cart. One to three days later, you can send the second email. The last email is crucial to driving urgency—it can deliver messages such as that the product they added to their cart will run out of stock soon. You can send this third email four to seven days after the cart abandonment. To execute a cart abandonment email campaign, you can use any of the tools below:
Remember, when sending emails, you have to showcase trust and credibility to bring back your lost sales. You can even include coupon codes to entice your customers to finish their purchase.
What makes customers loyal to your business? High-quality products, great customer service, and on-time delivery are just a few factors that contribute to their loyalty. In turn, they'll become more willing to buy repeatedly from a business they trust. Because of this, loyal customers are more profitable. A customer loyalty program can strengthen their loyalty by providing rewards to customers that often put your products first when they need it. These repeat customers have a higher lifetime value, and retaining them costs five times less than acquiring new prospects. With these, your ROI can increase if you foster your relationship with your existing customers. When creating a customer loyalty program, determine first for what kind of actions you'll reward your customers. These can range from referring their friends to your business or purchasing five items from your shop within a month. Next is to devise a way for your customers to redeem their rewards and to identify which kinds of rewards you'll offer. You can go for free shipping, store discount, or even a free item that they can avail through a promo code. The last step is to set the rules for your customer loyalty program. You can limit the program's members to only customers who made one purchase in the past or provide a disclaimer right from the start that the rewards are non-transferrable. Doing so will protect your program from abuse. A great example of a business with a well-executed loyalty program is The North Face.
With their VIPeak, customers receive a free membership once they sign up. Every dollar spent can get them ten peak points, which they can earn in The North Face's online and offline stores. In the long-run, a customer can use his peak points to get discounts from the store.
The competitive online industry has strengthened the need for Ecommerce strategies. Once you figure out the best ways to increase your online sales, you're on your way to sustaining your business's growth. Should you need any help in developing the right strategies, KDCI Outsourcing has the right expertise to help your Ecommerce business grow. We have services for Customer Support, Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, and Web Design and Development that our experts can tailor to your strategic needs. Partner with Us
The Philippines has recently entered more than 100 days of quarantine, making it the longest quarantine period in the world. People are now experiencing a profound burden of extreme self-isolation that can lead to what experts call “Quarantine Fatigue.”Quarantine fatigue leaves us with a growing sense of non-productivity, repetitiveness, loss of many things in our old life, and loss of excitement and newness in our day.Despite being faced with uncertainty, learning to cope with it is possible. Here are some things you can do:
These uncertain times could result in the feeling of being out of control. To prevent this, identify an activity that's within your control. You can set short-term goals such as cleaning out your closet, doing ten push-ups per day, or reading a non-COVID-19 related article. These can provide a sense of accomplishment that can help you deal with uncertainty.
Sometimes in our efforts to cope, we tend to cover it up with positivity and ignore our frustrations and sadness. If you acknowledge and validate these feelings, it will provide relief and reduce the power these feelings have over you.Now is also an excellent time to practice journaling. By the end of the week, take 15 to 20 minutes to read each entry. You can also take time to vent out to a friend or family member to avoid feeling alone.
Being stuck at home on your phone or computer every day gives you way too much time to absorb information — both positive and negative. This can lead to information overload and can fuel your negative emotions, as most things on the internet are lately filled with bad news.Schedule some time off the internet, especially social media. You can uninstall the apps to prevent temptation. During your downtime, you can do something else, like watch a movie or series, clean your room, or get some sunlight by a window.
Working from home might blur the boundaries between work and life. As you continue with the remote work setup, remember to keep a personal time for yourself. It can help you avoid experiencing job burnout or losing quality time with your friends and family.You can try meditating, exercising, or reading a book if you want to shut off from the digital world for a little while. If you're feeling a little social, you can organize a game night with your friends or have a Netflix binge party with your family.
Because of the uncertainty of the duration of the quarantine period, it has become a necessity to form a new routine to help you get through each day. But following a routine is not as easy as it sounds. It needs acceptance, discipline, and determination.For a task to become a routine, you have to successfully do it for 90 days (approx. 3 months) without fail. The best way to achieve this is to plan out your days and commit to a schedule. This includes sleeping and waking up at the same time so that your body can adjust quickly.With these tips, you can prevent experiencing quarantine fatigue. Let's continue to hope that we'll soon get through this pandemic and return to our normal lives.
At first, standing out sounds easy—you give your audience what they want, and they'll love your business. However, the online market becomes more saturated every day. Your online branding can help you push your way up from the crowd and stand out against your competitors.
Branding shapes how your audience sees you. It's more than logos or packaging—it's storytelling to influence the perception of your brand.
In the Ecommerce world, great branding is a powerful tool to have in a congested market. It starts from the look of your product line, your social media activities, and up to the shopping experience you provide. Effective branding can turn your Ecommerce business into a success, with easier marketing, higher customer retention, and stronger brand loyalty.
Nowadays, consumers are overwhelmed with various online shopping options. The number of Ecommerce platforms is growing, paving the way for every aspiring entrepreneur to open their store. With more people jumping in the online store bandwagon, how do you stand out and gain your audience's interest? The key is your brand .In a marketplace wherein businesses look virtually the same, your brand is your competitive advantage. It serves as the safety net that can shape your customers' expectations and form a relationship beyond the typical buy-and-sell transaction.
What makes you stand out in your market? A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) can help you further enhance your brand. It's a benefit that can differentiate your business and guide your audience into choosing your products over your competitors'. Reliable USPs must show that you value what your customers care about, for them to appreciate what you're offering. It should be integrated across all areas of your Ecommerce business to show that you're walking the talk with your promises. A perfect example of this is FedEx's, with their old USP "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." The slogan stated two promises that the company guarantees: safe and on-time delivery. Once you find a strong USP that embodies your business like FedEx's does, you'll have a stance that your competitors can't copy. Plus, you'll get a solid audience base that knows your brand and trusts you well enough to keep coming back to your business.
After identifying the right USP for your online store, what comes next? You need to leave a mark in your audience's mind. That means having more consumers aware of you and how you operate and getting more customers to keep coming back to you. With that said, here are eight tips to help you boost your Ecommerce brand online.
A lot of your competitors offer similar products at similar prices. Your branding can help you define your brand design online and prevent your business from becoming another typical store. Most consumers value consistent branding across brick-and-mortars and their online shops. Brand design shapes the aesthetics of your brand, making it easier for your audience to see if you have visual consistency and coordinated graphics. Brand design goes beyond your logo—it's also the color swatches, fonts, and images you use on your Ecommerce site and marketing collaterals. These visually represent your brand online to help you resonate with your audience. Take Zendesk, for example.
"Keep it beautifully simple." is their branding philosophy. It's evident when you browse through their website. By putting this philosophy into play, Zendesk has established their brand without the need for words—just visual consistency and coordinated graphics. Your Ecommerce business can achieve this level of online branding with the help of a full-service brand design agency. Good design can help you whet your consumers' visual appetite and ensure that your brand design is consistent across all your platforms.
It sounds like a basic tip from Marketing 101.However, consumers' habits have been transforming over the years—you'll need to adapt to the changes in the online market. In the Ecommerce business, getting to know your audience means going to where they are, digitally. Just pick the social media platforms relevant to your audience and suited to your branding. Consumers' social media posts are mostly dedicated to themselves, so they post personal opinions, beliefs, likes, and dislikes publicly. Using social listening, you can understand what they're saying about your brand and even your industry. It's the life-saver of market research in the online market. As an Ecommerce business, you get to see what they're saying, allowing you to find a way to meet their needs, solve their problems, and leave a lasting impression of your brand in their minds. Who knows, you might even find a new market while doing this.
You see them everywhere—from YouTube to Instagram, influencers are all over your social media feeds. Influencer marketing involves social media personalities or well-known industry figures promoting your brand online. First, they establish trust and authority in their field. Once they gain a larger following, they soon move on to advertising. This is where you come in as an Ecommerce business. Influencers give your brand exposure. When they promote your business, they add credibility and project authenticity. On top of that, consumers trust opinion leaders more than they do branded content. They buy something when someone they follow recommends it. Partnering with an influencer involves making sure that their fans are similar to your audience. Better yet, their values must match with yours to prevent your brand from getting tainted by a malicious act by an influencer whose background you didn't check. The influencers you usually see on your feed are social media personalities, but you can also take your pick among actors and other celebrities. Alcoholic beverages company Diageo went down this road with their My Tales of Whiskey Yule Log, starring comedian Nick Offerman.
With fresh content and the actor's trademark dead-pan, Diageo successfully introduced the brand to younger single malt whiskey consumers. The video reached 175 news stories nationally, earned 1.1 million YouTube views in two days, and boosted Diageo's YouTube channel subscribers from 5,500 to 23,000.
As your Ecommerce business grows, exploring beyond the confines of your site becomes a necessity. One way to do this is by guest posting—publishing your article on sites or blogs other than your own. You might be wondering, how can blogging for other sites help my online branding? Guest posting can increase brand awareness for your business. Publishing your content on blogs relevant to your industry can help you reach new potential customers similar to what you currently have. Moreover, it allows you to add backlinks that will drive traffic to your site. With guest posting, you represent your brand. So, your content must be high-quality to help strengthen your brand image and show your audience that you have authority and credibility over your subject-matter. Great content will appeal to your new audience and attract them into making business with you. Here are blogs that accept guest posts. Each has its guest posting guidelines. Think of it as visiting another house—it has rules that you must follow unless you want to get kicked out. In this case, you must keep them in mind to prevent your content from not getting published.
Lack of physical connection is the main problem of online shopping. However, you shouldn't allow this to prevent your Ecommerce business from putting your customers first. You can turn this into an opportunity to develop an exceptional shopping experience. Your customers can't touch, feel, smell, and see your products, so it's up to you to take their buying experience up a notch and therefore strengthen your online branding. Warby Parker is a great example of a customer-first business.
As an online retailer, they found a way to get around the lack of physical connection. With their Home Try-On, their customers can test out five frames for five days, all delivered for free. It allows them to see the products for themselves and try them out before purchasing. You can also create a positive buying experience for your customers. Start by providing at least three photos of your products, so they can see and understand what you're offering. Add more convenience by removing the friction in the checkout process. You wouldn't want them to abandon their carts and look for another store just because you're asking them to fill up too many form fields. These are necessities to create a great customer journey. You can develop it further by crafting a shopping experience unique to your brand with the help of Ecommerce web designers, who can transform your site into a highly-optimized and fully functional user experience.
Almost every consumer reads reviews while online window shopping, and most agree that reviews influence their purchasing decisions. By providing reviews, customers can show that your business is trustworthy. They help other consumers by letting them know about their shopping experience with you. And by seeing these reviews, new customers can feel more comfortable with your business. It doesn't matter if it's a positive or negative review—positive reviews can build more trust for your brand, while negative reviews can establish credibility for your products. In fact, negative reviews are better than no reviews at all. Treat your customers well, and they'll do the same to your brand. They can become your brand ambassadors as long as you make them satisfied with your business. In turn, the more your business will grow. After all, a satisfied customer can lead to a glowing review, which can then result in strong word-of-mouth marketing that can support your Ecommerce brand in the long-run.
With the prevailing lack of physical connection, building customer relationships online sounds challenging at first. How can you connect with your customers without seeing them? A high-quality customer support service can make up for the lack of face-to-face interaction. Through this, you can show your customers that you care. Show them that you value them, so they'll appreciate your business in return. Consumers want instant gratification. On Facebook alone, they expect a response from you within six hours, and on Twitter, it's even shorter—all you have is 60 minutes to answer them. A stellar customer support service can ensure that their messages aren't buried in your inbox or that their comments aren't lost in your sea of notifications. It builds your brand's credibility and shows that you have quality service dedicated just for them. In turn, your customers will see your brand in the best light. Spotify understands the value of great customer support service. They have a dedicated Twitter account for customers' queries, with trained agents that provide specific details to solve their problems.
Consumers have more ways than ever to share their opinions on products they bought. With that, most trust the opinions of other customers online instead of branded content. Here's your opportunity to take advantage of user-generated content. Sharing photos from your satisfied customers can help build trust and authenticity for your brand. Long-term, it can also help your bottom line as most user-generated contents are unpaid. Consumers can see how your product works and how it can meet their needs. Even better, since customers like them created the content, they see themselves in what you post. User-generated content can show them that what you're offering can do the job, thereby helping your Ecommerce brand stand out. Social media is the best medium to encourage user-generated content. Customers tend to post about their new purchases, and you can leverage this with a hashtag that will further push them to show off online. Sperry did this, by starting #SperryMyWay on Instagram. Online window shoppers search the hashtag to see photos of customers with their Sperry shoes, allowing them to see the product in action, "from sea to shore."
You can shape your online branding by fulfilling your customers' needs, from their visual appetite to their user experience. But with the volatility of today's market, you can't foresee which strategies will keep working in the future and which will not. One thing's for sure—if you keep focusing on your customers, you can keep the spotlight shining on your brand and stand out against any competition. Navigating the Ecommerce world for the first time can be challenging. So, it's best to partner with an experienced full-service Ecommerce agency, who has the right services and experts to make your brand stand out online. Partner with Us
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