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Learn modern marketing strategies like content marketing, 

Friday the 13th is here yet again which means all of the 

 are on red alert. If you’ve had an aversion to embracing or even promoting this holiday because of this phobia then you are missing out! We’re here to show you there’s a completely different way to handle this traditionally unlucky day and tell you how to turn it into a positive marketing experience. We’ve put together a list of 7 super lucky marketing tips for Friday the 13th that we’re sure will bring even the most scardiest of cats to your site.

Instead of pretending you don’t know it exists or trying to roll out a different promotion, embrace it! Send out your promotion loud & proud on all of your 

 platforms. Your followers are more likely to focus on the discount itself as opposed to the theme. Use Friday the 13th to catch their eye and get them to notice your brand.

Friday the 13th has always been associated with bad luck and all of the things that go with it (especially a certain less than friendly character who shall remain nameless.) Use your promotion to flip that mindset around and send out more of a “lucky” message. For example you could say something along the lines of “We Only Believe In Good Luck Today. Get Free Shipping Sitewide!” instead of the traditionally negative connotations of the day.

Offer A Discount Featuring the Number 13 


This one is so simple it’s basically effortless. Make your promotion feature the number 13 - “13% Off”, “$13 Off” or even “13 Best-Selling Products On Sale Today!”, something along those lines.

In line with the above tips, draw some urgency along with some positivity to your promotion! Let your customers know that today is the one and only day to take advantage of whatever offer you decide to send out and send it out everywhere! Most likely social & email campaigns will bring the most traffic but having a custom banner promoting the sale on your homepage is never a bad idea.

The internet is going to be chock-full of posts playing on the “bad luck” theme of the day so why not make your brand stand out and go the opposite way? Use any of the tips listed above as a marketing idea and get your followers excited about Friday the 13th!

In addition to doing a special one day sale, you could also build up excitement for the arrival of Friday the 13th by posting about it days, even weeks, prior. Get your followers pumped up by announcing that you’ll be releasing a special offer on Friday the 13th and then make it a huge deal once the day arrives.

Make Sure Your Promotion is Mobile-Friendly 


There’s nothing more unlucky than losing a sale because a user has an unpleasant mobile experience, and that happens on regular non-Friday the 13th days! Never forget to test everything on mobile because more than ever people are making purchases on their phone. “According to last year’s Black Friday statistics...more than $1.2 billion in revenue was generated in a single day through purchases made on mobile devices”.¹

That's it! That's about all you need to know about marketing in a positive way on the unluckiest day of the year. Happy posting!

7 Lucky Marketing Tips for Friday the 13th

No matter how long you’ve been in business it’s a safe bet that you’ve spent countless hours building your brand and meticulously identifying the best way to market that brand to your customers. The big question is have you spent some of those hours making sure your website (your #1 selling tool) is consistent with your brand? If the answer is no then continue reading and find out why you should consider making some changes!

In today’s market most of your target audience is going to find your website via social, email or Google campaigns and they’re going to expect to see the same branding across all of those platforms or else they might lose trust in the integrity of your brand.

 have reported judging the credibility of a brand based on the design of the site?"¹

Not only will neglecting your brand on your website harm your sales, it can also affect your search rankings. Google is all about relevance and making sure the results it returns to users are useful and pertinent to whatever it is they’re looking for and your site is less likely to come up if there’s little to no content mentioning who you are and what you offer. Think of this as a chance to tell your story to the world, a chance to tell them all about your brand and what makes you stand out from your competitors. For instance if your competitors have a more compelling message about their brand in their online presence then there’s a far greater chance that consumers will put more trust in their products instead of yours.

The most important brand elements you should focus on are your company logo, color scheme, slogan (if applicable), and font choice. These elements should all be prominent on your site and should be consistent with any social / email marketing you do.

Whether it’s just simply changing colors on your site or completely changing its appearance it’s imperative you consider making these changes sooner rather than later. If you’re unsure on how to proceed or would simply like a consult we are here for you! Get in touch with us today and let’s get the ball rolling!

Importance of Branding in Web Design

No matter what you sell or what service you provide, you won’t be selling much or providing service unless you can introduce potential customers to your offering. How will anyone find your website, let alone stick around to buy your product? There are many ways to get visitors to you, see our list below for our top 5 methods:

Many people have heard of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. This is a process that involves optimizing your website to be easily found via search engines. This is a simple solution that all websites should be embracing. We like 

 which offers a checklist of 13 quick wins to improve your SEO.

Another acronym used in shorthand for “pay-per-click” advertising. Utilizing this method, customers are shown your ads, but you only pay when they actually click the ad. This can be quite effective especially when selling a product or service to “cold traffic”. Here’s a list of the most common and relevant PPC platforms out there:

All of your advertising does not need to be a direct sale or sales offer of any kind. Many of the world’s biggest brands advertise via content marketing. For example Red Bull and GoPro are companies who share lifestyle photos and video content to build their brand as the authority in their field. Check out 

 for some great examples of lifestyle content marketing. Some businesses will want to look to more product-driven content, like our very own client North Shore Commercial Door. Their YouTube channel is filled with helpful product reviews, 

 and explores their vendor’s brand history. This content marketing establishes them as the expert while keeping the focus on the products. Another way to share helpful content is to utilize customer reviews in your social media marketing. 

 shares recipes, photos and customer reviews on it’s Instagram channel which brings important social proof and allows their content to easily be shared.

Once a customer reaches your site, how do you keep them coming back? And how do you know if your website marketing is having the desired results? Luckily there are many tools available to automate the process of keeping communication open with customers and staff.

How can lead magnets help your business? If you’re not sure what a Lead Magnet is, we’ll explain. A lead magnet is a deal so good that customers cannot resist providing you with their email address to get it. We list 6 ways to use this method:

(Either your Main Product or something Relevant and useful)

(A simple discount or free shipping offer is enough to gather leads)

(This will help you gather leads, but also perform valuable research into your customers)

Even in today’s modern world of marketing, word of mouth is still one of the best ways to find new customers. That’s great news for you because you can offer referral incentives to those customers via a referral program. Even better, offer a “double-sided” referral to give back to your existing customers while gaining a new customer. There are many different variants of this idea, but just make sure you take care of your brand ambassadors, your existing customers! That way they will refer your business to a friend with or without a referral program.

Whether you’re using one or all of these methods, they’re sure to bring in more leads to your business and as a result, more revenue!

How Do I Generate New Leads?

Ecommerce stores often rely on large banner and billboard graphics to help create a positive first impression. But why should you be changing them out regularly? Here are 5 key reasons why making regular updates to your website banner designs is important:

Make sure visitors know they're in the right place.

Your homepage banner and headline will be the first thing visitors see, so make sure it's up-to-date and tailored for maximum impact. This is something that should be tested and changed regularly for optimal results – plus, with A/B testing, you can easily compare two versions of an image or headline to determine which one works best with your target audience.

Direct customers to your best offer or promotion.

Use the main focus of your site to showcase your latest product or discount – this can help drive further engagement with potential customers and encourage them to take action on what you have available at any given time; moreover, by creating banners that emphasize discounts like ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘limited time offers’ this helps add extra incentive for people to purchase right away instead of waiting until later on down the road when those deals may no longer exist.

Address customer pain points with relevant imagery & headlines.

By rotating content that speaks directly to customer needs, you can provide more value while also helping people identify which products may work best for their particular situation(s). Additionally, using powerful words like 'guaranteed' 'instant' 'free', etc., in these visuals will help capture attention from viewers who are looking for solutions quickly without having too much read through text involved.

Keep things fresh by emphasizing holidays & expiring promotions

This helps create a sense of urgency which can boost conversion rates significantly over time as well as keep things interesting for returning customers who may otherwise become bored with seeing the same images every time they visit your store or website page(s). Furthermore, updating graphics seasonally allows businesses an opportunity to embrace new trends while remaining consistent throughout different times of year (easter eggs during Easter season vs snowflakes during winter season) - this keeps things fun yet still fitting into overall brand identity!

Showcase how products work in real life scenarios

Use lifestyle shots that demonstrate how someone could fix, improve or delight in use of a product from within an image rather than just showing what it looks like alone; these types of visuals should be tested frequently depending on current promotions being offered by the business at any given period of time! Moreover, adding captions underneath each photo depicting actual customer experiences will add additional credibility & trustworthiness around products being sold online – leading people closer towards taking action sooner rather than later! Ultimately, changing out banners/graphics regularly allows businesses to keep their sites fresh while still maintaining consistency between brand identity & overall marketing goals (such as email campaigns or other ad campaigns running alongside homepage billboard graphics).

Ultimately, changing out banners/graphics regularly allows businesses to keep their sites fresh while still maintaining consistency between brand identity & overall marketing goals (such as email campaigns or other ad campaigns running alongside homepage billboard graphics).

5 Reasons to change your Banners Regularly

Your guide to a successful e-commerce design starts here. We've put together the essential design elements that make up a great web store, how many of these features does your store have?

 HTTPS is essential to provide security to your customers. The green lock icon tells visitors your site is trustworthy.

 The hero image and headline strongly influence your visitor’s perception of your business by providing users with your most important offer and/or service.

 The call to action tells users exactly what you want them to do. Usually in the form of a brightly colored button, CTA’s direct visitors exactly where you want them to go.

 Displaying featured categories provides users an even easier way to find products relevant to their interests.

 Bring attention to promotional items by displaying a badge or similar element. This catches the user’s attention and will result in more page views of this item.

 Promote top-sellers, high-margin items, or products with high search volume.

 Use an add-to-cart button to make purchasing easier for users who already know what they’re looking for or are return customers who have decided to purchase.

 Use a “new arrivals” section to promote your latest and greatest products; visitors may be looking for new items.

 Build an email list to retain traffic and drive repeat traffic to your site. Email newsletters can be used for promotions, retargeting, and sharing news and features.

 Enable social sharing links to allow visitors to spread your business via social media. This improves search engine rankings and provides social proof to skeptical shoppers.

 Many customers will want to contact you directly; make it easy to find your support phone number.

 Significantly improve users' search experience and utilize this feature to suggest your featured products.

 Providing a category menu will allow visitors to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for by browsing categories.

 Clearly display your shipping, support, and other policies. No one likes to be surprised by shipping costs.

 Displaying recently viewed products increases the chance that a user will purchase a product they may have hesitated to purchase in the past.

 Clearly display your contact information, and if you have a physical location, list your address and hours of operation. This should be visible on every page of the site.

 Breadcrumb navigation shows your visitors where they are on the hierarchy of pages. This is especially useful when you have many categories and subcategories.

 This is the first image a shopper sees when looking for their product. A quality photo can increase the value of the product itself and improve trust in your brand.

 Simulate the experience of walking into a store and being able to pick up a product and look at it from every angle. This provides customers a better feel for the product.

 Video is the most compelling way to engage consumers, especially those viewing your site from mobile devices. Consumers are more likely to buy after viewing a video.

 Displaying related products is an easy way to cross-sell directly to your customers. You can offer them products that work well together or alternative brands.

 Your product title should be large and easy to read, but it also needs to capture their attention and provide enough information to differentiate the product.

 Most people consult reviews or ratings before making a final purchase. As a result, they are more likely to buy from your site if you have product ratings and reviews available.

 Your design should make the price of the item clear and noticeable. Any promotional discounts should be obvious; confusing pricing schemes will only frustrate users.

 Allowing customers to specify the number of items to add to their cart not only improves the number of sales you get but reduces friction and intuitively makes sense.

 Customers want to see all of the options available for an item they’re interested in. Make sure you show customers all of the product details with clickable color swatches.

 Use color and contrast to make the Add to Cart stand out from the rest of the page. The button should be fairly large and include an arrow or design element to draw the eye.

 Display a “trust seal” to overcome skeptical customers’ fears and increase conversions.

 Sometimes a shopper isn’t quite ready to order but wants to remember the product and your store. Make it easy to do so by providing an “Add to Wish List” button.

 Customers have questions about products. Your product description should answer all of the questions before they get to checkout. If they can’t find the information they’re looking for, they are likely to abandon the sale completely.

72 Must-Have Features for E-Commerce Websites [Infographic]

49 Elements Your Product Detail Page Must Have

How The Best Ecommerce Sites Win at Web Design [23 Examples]

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Your DIY Product Photography Resource Guide

Why Online Store Owners Should Embrace Online Reviews

Importance of a Trust Seal on Your eCommerce Website

The Complete Guide to Writing Product Descriptions That Convert

The Essential Ecommerce Web Design Guide

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

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.