2012: omar clothes store: digital marketing story
TRANSCRIPT
Omar Clothes Store The story of a clothes vendor who wants to start using the internet as a sales platform for increased profit.
By: Mohammad IrshaidDigital Marketing [email protected]://linkedin.com/in/irshaid
Omar is a clothes vendor who runs a clothing store. Having decided that the expansion of the sales and marketing process of his goods should take place on the internet, he started to think of the main and necessary steps to implement this process of creating an online store and using online marketing thus gaining more profit!
Before We StartYou must have at least a basic background on the terminology that we're talking about today.
As you go through the presentation you will find out that it's an interactive one. Words in this color will be linked to online pages that will give you more information.
For any questions or inquiries you can contact me at [email protected]
Thanks! :)
PS. this presentation will introduce you the online section of creating this project. Don't forget that Omar has to also arrange the acquiring of the products and the shipment process to the customers.
Lets Start
Idea!
PRD
Development & Design
Digital Marketing
Monitoring & Evaluation
Market Analysis
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At first, Omar must gather information about the market that he wants to target!
He can do so by answering these questions:
1- How much is the number of web users in the targeted area?2- How many within the targeted area have smart phones?3- How many within the targeted area do their purchases via the Internet?
All this information must be collected to reach the conclusion of the size of the market that Omar wants to target. This information can be collected through tools offered by big companies like Google and SEOmoz.such as: Google Trends, Google Keyword.
After having determined the size of the target market Omar now reaches the construction phase of the project.
Before construction, Omar needs to create a PRD which will later be given to the developer to start building the website.
For his website Omar's needs are:
Clean, fast and secure pages.
So that customers can browse the site easily, without waiting for the go between pages and having a secure purchasing process with no risks for the customers bank accounts.
Are these requirements enough?Of course not!
Omar wants to manage procurement by himself, to introduce new goods and items, to edit selling rates and offers!
For this Omar needs the website with CMS so he can manage his website easily.
Omar knows that the nature of his business needs trust as the basis between the customer and company in order to succeed and flourish, so he wants to communicate this trust to his online customers as well.
For that Omar decides to add pages that explain the history of the company and give out information. One of the pages communicates how to contact the company via e-mail or over the phone, it may also have a map of the headquarters of his company and its subsidiaries.
Omar also wants to add a simple form so that customers can send suggestions for him to develop his project.
At this stage, Omar senses that his project still lacks some development.
He thought of a few scenarios his customers might face. What if a customer could not complete the purchasing process? What if they did not know how to confirm the purchase? He found it essential to create a page that solves such problems by answering frequently asked questions. This page is called FAQ.
Adding a blog section to his website creates an added value by providing the customers with an active page with information and regular updates.
Source: DribbbleSource: Dribbble
Omar used 'Call to Action' words and phrases that encourage people to purchase.
Source: Dribbble
Of course Omar never forgot that the home page is the first impression and more or less like the facade of his shop. He thought that he could have a slider that introduced the business, latest offers and a preview of the products, maybe even an area that previews the latest blog post.
A footer that has a subscribe button to the newsletter, contact information and social media icons.
So the result so far is as follows:
- Home- About- Goods Gallery- Blog- FAQ- Contact
Omar didn't want to end the experience within his website by the end of the purchase, he thought of creating a mailing list to stay in touch with new offers and discounts.
To be able to gather the emails of the customers he had to create a simple form in which customers can fill in their information and start receiving updates immediately.
Omar decided to use Mailchimp to manage his mailing list. He also that he could collect the addresses and email them himself but Omar didn't want to risk his emails going to spam.
Source: Dribbble
Speaking of mailing lists that are part of e-marketing, Omar remembered the importance of social networks and sharing the offers and products on such platforms.
Since he knows the vast amount of users of social networks at the present time, Omar decided to have customers sign in on his website through their social media accounts making it all that much practical and easy to track the customers.
Adding social media plugins and sharing buttons of his website and its products was also a step to enhance his marketing plan.
During the market analysis, it was found that the number of mobile phone users is increasing dramatically in his target area, and the numbers of those who buy on the web using mobile phones is also great!
Omar is an intelligent man and is able to use every opportunity for maximum benefit. He learned that there is a big difference between browsing a website through a mobile or a desktop interface!
For that Omar decides to create two interfaces, the desktop interface and another for mobiles. The mobile interface of the website is a simpler one with clear and large buttons and a bigger list for easier browsing. This way the customers will not need to zoom in or out to see the text, buttons or products.
As a conclusion of his brainstorming and research results Omar specified the needs and requirements of the project. He explained it all in detail in the PRD and handed it over to the web developer to commence working on the website.
The PRD includes the following key points:
1- e-Commerce website with CMS.2- Desktop and Mobile versions.2- Clean, fast and secure pages3- 'Home, Product Gallery, About, FAQ, Contact, Blog' Pages.4- Social Media integration.5- Mailing list registration form.6- Suggestions form.
Omar alongside the developer have to determine a plan of action which is divided into milestones and sub tasks with times and dates.
One of Omar's tasks include constant following up on the construction of the project according to aforementioned plan so that the project is delivered on time.
MS Project is a good application for managing such projects and its tasks and tracking milestones and time management. For Mac users Merlin is an excellent alternative.
Source: Dribbble
The building phase is now completed, the results were great!
Now Omar will begin the phase of writing and filling the website's content, there are a lot of pages that must be written as well as the goods that must be added to the store.
The process of adding content should not be undertaken randomly, first Omar has to identify a group of words directly related to the services he provides.
Omar can do so by using 'Google keyword tool' and compiling the best words in the GEO target.
The selected words will be used within the website title, the website description and the pages' content. Omar made use of the services of a professional copywriter to help him with this content.
What Omar just did with the selected keywords is part of an important process called On-Page SEO.
The use of keywords within the content in a concentrated manner results in search engines showing Omar's website in the top search results when someone looks up these keywords.
Omar has now completed the website fully, added all needed SEO friendly content, configured the website and connected it to social media networks. As part of having an SEO friendly website, the url links have to be clear and communicate the content of that page or post.
It was brought to Omar's attention that it's always a plus sign to add the physical location of his shop to the web by using Google Places.
He will now write his first blog post which will be entitled 'Hello World' and will explain about the site and what services they provide to attract visitors.
The website is now launched but the work is still not over. A marketing plan and campaign is needed. Omar started off by communicating with local fashion magazines that will create the base of his customers. Afterwards he began targeting television channels to spread the announcement during fashion shows. He also contacted newspapers, radio channels and the media in general. Omar also used the blog section by covering local fashion shows and related events for a wider audience.
Omar also thought of utilizing his original customers from his shop. He printed the web address on the shopping bags and on business cards as well as putting up banners around his shop to promote the online business.
With regards to online marketing, Omar's business is directly related to goods and images of goods. He realized that pictures are an integral part of the purchasing process and his primary focus on social networks should concentrate around platforms that display images and therefore attract a wide range of potential customers.
His social media platforms of choice were:
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
His social media management approach was to write and share related and relevant content, to constantly interact with customers, to update the blog section, to ask questions, share quotes and facts and latest news. All to be shared in specific appropriate times and quantities. Omar always welcomed feedback and new suggestions to further develop his business and website.
Omar used online advertisements on important occasions such as holidays and vacations to gain more customers. He has many options such as Google Adwords and Facebook Ads.
He also targeted online magazines and related websites for further advertisements for his business. He would always pick the websites with most visits traffic to make most use of these ads. He also added his website to related directories online under fashion and clothing categories.
One more thing should be considered by Omar at this stage, it is monitoring the behavior of customers on the website after the launch: the number of visitors, the regions, and even devices used to check the website.
By using Google Analytics, a free tool, Omar can start monitoring and analysing his website traffic.
To measure success with his website, Omar had to make clear what his KPI's are.
- A certain amount of purchased items.- A certain number of monthly website visits.- A certain number of social media fans. - A certain number of contacts in the mailing list.
Omar is very pleased with the progress he has achieved. His project is up and running and gaining increased income. The journey was not an easy one but he planned his project well and eventually reached the stage he had aimed for with his action plan.
Omar has future plans of doing different things to stay developed and up to date with the world such as:
Creating a mobile App, doing an FAQ video instead of written text. Adding the option of different languages and currencies to eventually target a wider audience and maybe even the global market. Another option he thought of was creating social media campaigns.
The End