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Creating an email promotion doesn’t have to be a difficult task. If you already have your email marketing list in place and your marketing calendar planned out, you’re halfway there. Let’s look at what the next steps are to turning on the money faucet for your business.

For this example, let’s pretend you’re promoting a new line of Widgets from Brand X. It’s Valentine’s Day (a big holiday for Widget sales), and you want to offer 10% Brand X Widgets (for a limited time, while supplies last) with coupon code BRANDX10. That’s everything we need to begin.

Your email marketing platform (Constant Contact, iContact, Campaigner, Mailchimp, etc.) will have an option to create a new email campaign. They will most likely allow you to choose from a set of pre-defined email templates. However, it would be best if you had a custom template that you make and re-use for your emails so that all the correspondence that comes from your business is consistent and your customers know what to expect.

Your email template can be an simple as your business logo and a phone number on top, or you can also include links to your website and customer service hours. Whatever you choose to include, keep the header short and sweet so that readers can get to the most important content of the email right away.

You may also choose to include a standard footer with links to your website. This is likely the best place for links and additional information that are not as important as the promotion but necessary for your business (like legalese and disclaimers).

It’s important to note that people have no patience.

They just don’t read an email if you don’t get their attention right away. We recommend creating one big compelling graphic with your promotion in big bold letters to be included as the very first thing in your email (under the short header, or possibly in place of it). Use as few words as possible to describe your deal. Remember that pictures speak louder than words, so don’t cover more than half the image space with text (under 25% would be ideal).

Whether it reads “Shop Now” or “Learn More” or even “Donate Today”, customers need to be told what to do next to take action. You can’t assume they will know that they can click the image to go to your website (which it should absolutely do).

We recommend making this graphic about 600 x 600 pixels wide. It will be easy to read in all email browsers (desktop and mobile), and you can also use that graphic (or a derivation of it) on social media. Be sure to make a version of your promotion graphic for inclusion on your homepage as a billboard. Consistency in marketing is key, and it’s important that your customers know that your email message matches the branding on your site.

To support your fabulous new main image, you’ll need supporting text just below it. This can be your wordier explanation of your sale or description of the product or products that you’re promoting.

It’s up to you as to whether or not you’d like to promote other items, categories, or brands below this. In our experience, it’s best to keep emails as short and to the point as possible. With that said, if you’re running an ongoing promotion like free shipping over a certain amount, or a contest, it may benefit you to include a smaller section below the main promotion with a custom graphic.

Before you schedule the email to be sent, it’s time to test your email. Send a test to yourself and open it on your desktop, and on your phone. Make sure all the links work!

A great thing about using a professional email marketing platform is that you can schedule your emails well in advance. That way, you can setup all your emails ahead of time and not have to scramble at the last minute to get them done. Good-looking email graphics can take a while and go through a few revisions before you approve, so plan ahead with an email marketing calendar.

And that’s it! You’ve crafted an effective email marketing campaign. On the day you send it out, be sure to keep an eye on your site traffic and email campaign reports.

How to Create a Promotional Email Campaign

You may not have noticed it, but Google made a major change to the way it displays search results. Google recently removed all pay-per-click ads from the right side of it's search results pages. After more than ten years of Adwords pay-per-click results taking up both the top 1-3 spots and the entire right column being a long list of ads, this is a significant shift in how Google is going to provide "answers" to search queries.So why did Google remove a major source of revenue on the right column of its search results? The answer is almost certainly a result of testing and monetization. Google thinks it can provide a better user experience, and make more money, by using that space more wisely. But what is going to go there? To learn where Google is going, you have to be fully immersed in the world of all things Google. Luckily for you, that's pretty much all we do. :)

Over the past few months, the team at Ventura Web Design has noticed that there are many queries that bring up a special box called a Knowledge Panel on the right with relevant info about your search. While the knowledge box itself is not new, how it displays specific information about medical searches is very interesting. Look at the results for "hay fever":

You can now learn about symptoms and treatments directly on the search results page, without leaving Google. This content includes information from medical doctors about how common a condition is, whether it's critical or contagious, typically affected age group(s), and more. The knowledge box includes tabs for an Overview, Symptoms, and Treatments for that ailment. The information comes from a variety of sources, including the NIH, CDC, FDA, WHO, and more. Google has also partnered with organizations such as the Mayo Clinic, Apollo Hospitals, Lumiata, and VoxHealth. The source of the information in the past was quoted very prominently and the goal of Google was to help you go from Google Search Results to the website with the answer to your query. As you can see from the search result image above, that "goal" seems to have changed.

Even the knowledge box is styled and looks nothing like any other knowledge boxes. Google commissioned illustrations from licensed medical illustrators for use here. The colors and attention-grabbing layout differs greatly from what Google has provided in the past.

This is a major shift in Google's philosophy. This layout shows the direction Google is heading: to a more display driven layout, rather than its historically text only layout. Remember when Google's single goal was to get you OFF of their website and on to what you're seeking? Google is now answering a question without linking away. But more importantly, Google is now in the content creation business. This is a major historic shift for the search leader. Think about that for a moment. Google is using the power of all the data it has access to, that you no longer have access to via Google Analytics, to guide its own decision making on content creation.

From the Google perspective, this new direction improves the user experience by providing "quality" answers even faster than before. Google's stated mission is to answer the question you have, before you've even fully typed the question in to the search box (instant search (link:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/186645?hl=en

The knowledge box is a function of Google's Knowledge Graph, which launched in May 2012. it's used both by Google itself to improve search relevancy and also to present the knowledge boxes that provide facts about people, places and things alongside regular results. Google reports it has over 3.5 billion facts, including information about 500 million entities, including movies, museums, bodies of water, music, astronomical objects, buildings, sports, medical ailments, and more. Similar to how Google uses a link graph to model how pages are interlinked to and which are relevant for searches, it uses the knowledge graph to determine relationships between entities and report facts about them. If you currently have a knowledge graph card and want that information to change, you need to request a change from Google. Here is the link for more information on changing knowledge graph cards. (link: 

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6325583?hl=en

There is currently no mechanism to include yourself or your site as part of the Knowledge Graph. If you run a blog all about movies, there isn't a way to be listed as a suggested source for information. Tagging information on your landing pages with rich snippets can be helpful in the long run, though it's no guarantee of inclusion. This is where good SEO efforts can help. Your goal, as a website owner, is to have Google view your site as the leading authority of information on a particular topic. If Google determines that your topic is popular enough, it may create Knowledge Cards and include a link to your site or information in that card.

In an interview with Search Engine Land, the Google's Former Head of Search, Amit Singhal, noted that the facts come from publicly available sources like Wikipedia, the CIA World Factbook, and Google Books. They also license data from other sources. "Whenever we can get our hands on structured data, we add it," said Singhal. This is incredibly important to online store owners, as Google has said for years that structured data is important to being able to categorize product listings and display them in a relevant way. While knowledge boxes currently lack the ability to take action on most of their listings (you can learn about the Tower of London but there is no option to buy tickets to a tour), that functionality is coming. Amit recently left Google to pursue philanthropic efforts. (

http://searchengineland.com/amit-singhal-the-head-of-google-search-to-leave…

) To make room for the knowledge box on selected queries, Google removed the ads on the right column. While this will limit the amount of adspace available and possibly drive up the cost of adwords campaigns, the side and bottom ads never did amount for the majority of click volume. According to a study of January 2016 desktop paid clicks by position, only 14.6% were from the side and bottom, so the change is not decreasing revenue by any appreciable amount, only ad impressions. However, it does allow for more Google PLAs (Product Listing Ads) on the right column, which is a benefit for online stores that offer a product feed to Google Shopping. Also, if users grow to depend on Google being an authority rather than merely a portal, PLAs will be more trusted and therefore effective. Overall, this is a good move for Google, its users, and those that advertise on it.

Google Makes Major Shift on Search Results Pages

Having a fully planned out marketing calendar for the year is crucial for busy store owners. You don't have time during your busy seasons to sit down and come up with a marketing plan for promotions that need to go out on time. Graphics need to be created, compelling text needs to be written, coupons need to be made and tested, emails need to be crafted, social media posts need to be coordinated - it's a lot of work if you have a business to run as well.

If you're not constantly interacting with your customers, they tend to forget about your brand and lose loyalty. The best change you can make to get caught up on your marketing and stay in touch with your customer base is to first make a marketing calendar. So where to begin?

If you're new to making a marketing calendar for your business, a good place to start is by looking at all the calendar holidays. Here is a free resource with lots of holidays listed:

Most retailers do promotions and sales based on holidays, such as Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and of course Black Friday (in the US). If you're an international retailer, you have far more holidays to choose from.

Decide what promotions to run on which holidays. Emails with a "SALE" or a percentage off your order in the subject line tend to get opened more, so if you can run a sale on a holiday, do so. The best coupons promotions are ones that run only for a limited time, to create a sense of urgency.

How often do you want to send emails? Some retailers send marketing emails once a month, and some send them twice a week. It all depends on your business. If you are constantly getting new products and selling out of old ones, it's worth it to email as often as you can.

You could fill an entire year with just holiday promotions, but what about during the off weeks, and what if you don't have the margins to give discounts all the time? You can always fill those weeks with specific category, brand, or product promotions. Do you sell shoes? Promote a specific brand of shoe. Do you sell pool products? Promote your selection of Pool Covers. Got a great new blender in stock? Tout the features of it. Sure, you're not offering a discount or special deal, but what's important is that your message is getting out to your customers and you keep their attention so that when they ARE ready to buy, they know where to go.

You'll need to make a spreadsheet to track your marketing. For each row, include the following:

 - A short title of your promotion that can also double as a subject line on emails.

 - A short description that can be used for the content of your email and social posts for the promotion. You don't have to include a wall of text that no-one is going to ready anyway!

 - The day you intend to send the promotion

 - Is there a coupon for this promotion? Include the coupon code here for your reference.

 - Is the coupon valid for a specific set of dates?

Now that you have the structure of the calendar ready, work on filling out the most important holidays and sale days first. Once those are set, find (or make up) other promotion days to fill in the gaps.

That's it! Take a step back and look at what you've accomplished. With your marketing calendar for the year to come in place, you and your marketing team will know exactly what's coming and be better able to prepare for it. Some e-commerce platforms allow you to create coupon codes or time-sensitive discounts in advance. Better to get those setup now rather than at the last minute. You can always make adjustments later as necessary.

Planning Your Marketing Calendar

Having the trust of consumers is very important for online retailers. There are a number of different ways to build trust for your store. Becoming a Google Trusted Store and displaying the Trusted Stores badge on your site goes a long way towards building trust with your potential customers.

Being accepted in the Google Trusted Store program and displaying the badge on your site lets consumers know that their orders are protected by Google for up to $1000, and they know Google will help in resolving any issues they have with your store.

Google doesn’t just let any online retailer display the Trusted Store badge; There are several requirements you will need to meet to earn that badge:

Currently, the program is only available to US merchants

The site’s content and customer support must be in English

Merchants must process 600 orders on a 90-day rolling basis

The Merchant must maintain a minimum 4 star rating on Google Trusted Stores customer survey and seller ratings over a 90-day rolling basis

No more than 1 in 300 protected orders shall be escalated on a 90-day rolling basis

It shall take on average no more than 4 calendar days for a merchant to resolve any issues

If the annual payout of refunds paid by Google exceeds $5000 the client’s participation in the program may be suspended or terminated.

If you believe your store qualifies, head over to Google Trusted Stores to 

. Google will ask you several questions about your business. Once you answer all the questions you are ready to integrate the Google Trusted Store code into your site. Depending on the platform you use this could be relatively easy, both Yahoo! Stores and BigCommerce have built the code into their platforms, or may require more technical knowledge to integrate the code with your site.

Once the Trusted Store code is in place you need to test the code to make sure it is working correctly, Google gives you a special URL to test the code. If the code is working correctly, your store will enter the Trusted Stores qualification period. The qualification period can last anywhere from 30 – 90 days, depending on your order volume. During this time Google will monitor your store and the badge will not appear on your site. After the qualification Google will notify you whether your store passed and was accepted into the program. If it was the badge will automatically appear on the site.

How Can I Make My Store a Google Trusted Store

Properly merchandising your online store is just as important as merchandising a brick-and-mortar store. Having a well-merchandised store can lead to increased conversion rates and higher average ticket sizes.

Online merchandising is, at its most basic, a way of displaying your products that entices your customers to make a purchase. There are a myriad of different ways and methods to properly merchandise your store. We will take a look at some of the most important.

Make sure people can easily find what they are looking for. 

 This includes proper categorization of your inventory. A store with poor categorization can be a nightmare for your potential customers to navigate through. Make sure your navigation is clear and easy to follow. The fewer steps a customer needs to take to get to the product the better. Make sure your store has a search function.

Writing your own product descriptions is more important than having your own product photography. Using the same generic product description is going to hurt your SEO as Google will see it as 

, and you will be lucky to make it on page one of the search results. Writing your own compelling product descriptions will give you the opportunity to include any important keywords that the manufacturer may have missed. It also allows you to optimize the content to your customers and fit within your store’s culture.

Use high quality photos and product descriptions not provided by the manufacturer. 

 This may seem like a no-brainer, but many stores just use the product descriptions and photos provided by the manufacturer. Using the same photos and descriptions as your competitors will not set you apart from the crowd. If possible, hire a professional photographer to take product photos for you.If professional photography is out of the budget, take your own photographs. You should only take your own photographs if you can match or exceed the quality of the photos that the manufacturer supplies. Poor photography shows a lack of attention to detail and makes your business look like an amateur operation. Make use of alternate images by showing different angles of the products or a close-up of important details.

Make sure any promotions you are running are prominently featured

. Use attractive banners with compelling graphics on the home page to draw attention to your promotions. If you run promotions that are category specific ,don’t forget to add banners to the category page as well. Feature your best selling products or newest items on your home page. And don’t miss the opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell by adding related / alternative products and accessories on your product pages.

Make it easy for your customers to make a purchase from you. 

 You have done a good job of merchandising your store, you have killer photos and product descriptions, cross-sell and up-sell is properly set-up, and promotions are prominently featured. All this hard work could be wasted if it is difficult for your customers to make a purchase. Make sure your buy button is prominently featured and easy for customers to see.The checkout process should be as streamlined as possible. Do you force customers to sign up for an account before they can buy from you, or can they check out as a guest? Remove any obstacles that may prevent a guest from completing the checkout steps. Do you offer PayPal as a checkout option? Many consumers are reluctant to give credit card information to merchants they are unfamiliar with, but they will use PayPal since that information isn’t passed on to the merchant and it gives the customer a degree of better security.

How to Create a Promotional Email Campaign

Google Makes Major Shift on Search Results Pages

Planning Your Marketing Calendar

How Can I Make My Store a Google Trusted Store

5 Tips for Properly Merchandising Your Online Store