or scroll down to get the highlights

SIX TIPS FOR STAYING OUT OF SPAM

On February 1st, 2024, the world is going to change for anyone who sends regular emails to their subscribers. And so today I’m sitting down with our resident Klaviyo and Shopify expert, Claudia Howard. She’s going to explain what’s changing, and walk us through what we’ll need to do to stay compliant.

Listen HERE or keep reading to find out how you can keep your campaigns out of your subscribers’ spam folders.

Understanding the New Requirements

You’ve probably noticed that your inbox is filling up faster and faster lately, and much of what you’re receiving is spam, or worse…malicious phishing emails. So in an attempt to reduce some of the chaos, Google and Yahoo are cracking down on abusive senders. This is actually GOOD for ecommerce marketers, because once the changes go into effect, our subscribers’ inboxes will be much less cluttered (and our emails more likely to be read).

BUT

Only if we take the following steps to verify our sending domains. It’s not hard, but grab a pen because you need to get this taken care of right away.

Who Needs to Comply and Why?

The new rules specify that any marketers sending 5k or more bulk emails a day must be compliant. But even if this isn’t you yet, this is the best practice to follow and will ensure that you don’t accidentally get yourself on the naughty list.

The Deal With Deliverability: What’s A Deliverability Score?

We often talk about email marketing as the one communication channel that you “own”. But did you know that email service providers like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc. have their own algorithms? Each sender is assigned a “deliverability score” based on your recipients’ behavior – how many unsubscribes are you getting, how many spam complaints? What are your click rates?

Obviously, you want your email subscribers to see your beautiful campaigns. But they definitely won’t if you end up in their spam folders! So here are our six recommendations to stay out of Spam folders and in Google and Klaviyo’s good graces.

6 Tips For Staying Out of Spam

1. Double-check that the “from” email address you’re using is your own domain. In other words, not “yourname@gmail dot com” but “hello@yourstorename dot com” or similar.

2. If it’s not, change it!

3. Set up your “dedicated sending domain” sometimes called your “branded sending domain”. It improves your branding in the “from” address in the inbox by removing the sent “via klaviyomail.com” disclaimer. This is setup by using the guide in your Klaviyo account to edit your DNS settings at your domain registrar.

4. Set up a DMARC authentication policy on your domain to keep spammers from “spoofing” you. This authenticates the email is coming from your domain. It enhances email security by preventing unauthorized use of your domain, reduces phishing and improves deliverability. Set this up by editing your DNS settings at your domain registrar. Here’s a link to a free DMARC record generator.

5. Make it easier to unsubscribe by adding an “unsubscribe” button to the bottom of all of your campaigns.

6. Keep spam complaints low – the acceptable threshold for inboxes is 3 per 1000. Use Klaviyo’s benchmark and deliverability reports to monitor your spam complaints and if they exceed the threshold take steps to reduce them. Steps include list cleaning and segmentation.

If any of the above tips has your head spinning, Claudia is an expert on Store Tasker, and for just $95 she’ll get your account set up and in ship shape. This is money so well spent, because once these changes go into effect on February 1st, you can really hurt your sales by failing to comply.

Claudia has already made a training for this and it’s in the Inner Circle classroom, but if you’re not a member yet, we’ve made it publicly available. Just go to www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/stayoutofspam enter your email address and we’ll send you the checklist.

AND…if you have any ecommerce store owner friends, please forward them this post! I really don’t want anyone losing sales just because they didn’t know about these new requirements, or how to comply with them.

Email is so important. In fact, we tell our members that at LEAST 30% of their revenue should be coming from email. So set aside some time, go through our tutorial, and we’ll get through this together!

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

There’s nothing like a new year to revisit our goals, is there? If you’re like many of us, this time of year sparks a sense of renewal and the chance to revisit our “why.” And so we kicked off the year the way we always do in the Inner Circle, with our annual 30-day growth plan call. It’s a time for our members and ecommerce coaches to gather together on Zoom, in a quiet and focused way, to study our metrics and get clear about what we need to do next in our businesses.

What I love most about this call is witnessing our community unite, not just in pursuit of goals, but with shared accountability, support, and celebration. This practice is a cornerstone of staying on course and achieving our ambitions as ecommerce store owners.

In today’s episode, I’m excited to bring you a peek into this event. The approach might seem straightforward, yet it’s pivotal; without it, attaining your goals becomes a LOT harder and less clear.

I’ve also got a treat for you. It’s the exact tool we use during these working sessions, that you can apply to your own business strategies.

Watch the video as we delve into the habits that have been instrumental in our members’ success. In it you’ll learn:
👀 The REAL reason you’re not getting the sales you want
📊 How to harness your data (and stay healthy emotionally)
🎨 The art of aligning your focus with your objectives

Join the Inner Circle: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/inner-circle/

Tina’s year of Collaboration: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/a-year-of-results-that-will-shock-you-episode-120/

Melissa’s Stress-Free Content Plan: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-stress-free-content-plan-that-built-a-huge-audience-episode-190/

How Many “Eyeballs” See Your Products: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-many-eyeballs-see-your-products-get-past-this-roadblock-to-success-episode-175/

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

6 Strategies To Get Your Sales Back on Track in 2024

2023 has been a tough year for many ecommerce store owners. If it felt like an uphill battle, you’re in good company. While it may be tempting to throw up your hands and blame the economy, there ARE things you can do to adapt and take control of your sales goals.

I was recently joined by Sarah Williams, the founder of Launch Your Box and owner of the successful subscription box Framed, to delve into 6 strategies that are working NOW. As fellow entrepreneurs and friends, Sarah and I share a passion for uncovering the inner workings of businesses and discovering what works.

Read on to get the details, or click here to listen to the episode

Sarah had a rough year 2023. Due to some health and personal challenges, Sarah lost her focus and saw sales take a nosedive in April. By June she realized her business was in trouble, and in July she decided to take the reins and right the ship. Here’s how she did it.

1. Embrace the Basics

In times of uncertainty, it may be tempting to chase after the latest shiny new strategy. But Sarah attributes her success to simply getting back to basics. She focused on 3 things:

She doubled down on what she knew was already working, which for her was live selling, increasing her live online events from once to twice weekly. This significantly boosted her weekly sales.
She increased her email frequency, but focused on a single product in each campaign. Surprisingly, that one change boosted email revenue to 65% of her total sales.
She re-focused her energy on building her list, creating a new opt-in offer (a free phone wallpaper download) and running cold ads to it. This brought in over 6,000 new leads within a few months.

2. Social Media Refresh: Page Like Ads and Live Engagement

Sarah knew that her social media follower count had begun to stagnate, so she re-committed to growing her audience. Sarah initiated a Page Like ad (a type of engagement ad in Meta Ads Manager) to breathe new life into her Facebook and Instagram pages. Then in her live events, she took special care to engage with her new followers–personally welcoming them–which fostered a sense of connection that spilled over to her email campaigns. Since her social audience recognized and liked her, they were much more likely to open her emails.

3. Brand Video

Sarah shared the thing that her students have found is the #1 best growth strategy to use right now: video.

A 90-second “brand video,” highlighting your products and benefits, provides a cost-effective way to grab your ideal customers’ attention and quickly build a huge audience that you can re-target later. Use it in your organic posts, your ads, your e-mails, everywhere! It’s the best way to find and engage your perfect audience.

4. Lead-Gen Quizzes

Leverage all of that new traffic for even MORE list growth by adding a quiz on your site, which can generate and convert new leads at an impressive rate.  Using the App “Shop Quiz” or similar, you can create a short list of questions that lead to an opt-in form so participants can receive their results via email. You can boost your results by running ads straight to the quiz–bringing in $.30-$.50 high-quality leads who are pre-qualified and ready to buy.

5. Amp Up The Email Automation

Sarah emphasizes the importance of personalized experiences through email automations (targeted email flows that are triggered by user actions, such as quiz completions.) So for example, if you learned from your quiz that a customer is interested in skincare, you can send them an email flow featuring your skincare products. Likewise, you can create automations for customers who have bought a product that might be complementary to another. Send them an automation about the benefits of that next purchase, as those customers are likely to make a repeat purchase sooner than later. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box with your automations, use what you know about your customers and create automations to better serve them.

6. Consistency is Key

Regardless of the strategies you choose, Sarah reminds us that consistency is vital. Don’t try something once and give up when it doesn’t change the game–keep going. Your audience responds best when they know what to expect from you, so make a plan and stick to it. If it’s going live, do it on a regular basis. If it’s weekly campaigns, keep it up for several months before you measure your results.

If 2024 is your year to get your business back on track, remember–follow the data. Don’t go chasing after the new, shiny thing until you’ve looked at your numbers and identified what did and did not work. The FIRST step should be doubling down on what was successful, and THEN you can consider innovating based on those insights.

Related Links:

Check out Sarah’s Launch Your Box Podcast: https://www.launchyourboxwithsarah.com/blog/welcome-to-the-launch-your-box-podcast

Build A Massive Audience With A Brand Video: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/build-a-massive-audience-with-a-brand-video-episode-162/

The Biggest Opportunity To Get More Sales: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-biggest-opportunity-to-get-more-sales-episode-136/

The One Thing Even Smart Business Owners Continue To Get Wrong: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-one-thing-even-smart-business-owners-continue-to-get-wrong-episode-174/

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

Mastering Your E-commerce Apps: A Guide to Auditing, Updating, and Profiting

In this post we’re diving into the world of Shopify and e-commerce apps, and I’ve brought in our resident expert, Claudia Howard. She’s a Klaviyo pro and the best email strategist I know.

Apps can be a double-edged sword. We all love finding that shiny new tool, especially if it’s free. But before you know it, your store becomes a playground for apps, and you might not even be using half of them.

Read on to get the details, or click to listen to the episode

Why Auditing is Crucial

• Cuts Unnecessary Costs
  You may be paying for apps you aren’t even using, and not even know it.
• Improves Site Speed
  Leftover code from unused apps can slow down your site load time, driving away potential customers before they even have a chance to see what you sell.
• Relevance Check
  Sometimes you have an app installed that’s no longer necessary. Since Shopify and other platforms are constantly being updated and improved, often the apps you needed a few months ago are now included in the price of your site.
• Return on Investment (ROI) Evaluation
  Evaluating the cost vs. benefit is just good business. Taking the time to honestly assess how much (and what type of) value your apps are adding can give you clarity on what you really need and what you could do without.

5 Steps to App Audit

So, you’re sold on the idea of auditing your apps. But how do you actually go about it? Claudia breaks it down into five simple steps.

Step 1: Quick Review and Cleanup

• Head to your Shopify admin and check the list of installed apps.
• Ask yourself: Are these all active, and am I using them?
• Uninstall any unused apps.
• Email the developer to ensure all code is removed. App developers are required by law to remove old code upon request, so don’t be shy about messaging them to ask for a clean-up on the back end.

Step 2: Update Check

• Review installed apps for available updates (some apps may notify you within their dashboard, but others you’ll need to check).
• Keep the app code updated for bug fixes and added features.

Step 3: Feature Duplication Check

• Assess if features you bought an app for are now available elsewhere (e.g., through Shopify or other services).
• Look for duplications and streamline your toolkit.

Step 4: Revenue and Time Analysis

• Conduct a cost-benefit analysis.
• Consider if the app saves you time, enhances customer experience, or generates revenue.
• Create a chart weighing the benefits against the app’s cost.

Step 5: Decision Time

• Decide if the app is truly worth it for your store.
• Factor in time saved, customer experience, and revenue generated.
• Conduct a cost-benefit analysis using a simple spreadsheet.

Q&A: Addressing Common Concerns

Q: If an app is free and unused, why bother deleting it?
Some code can slow down your site, even if it’s free. Deleting it now and reinstalling later may get you an updated version.

Q: How do I know if new features are available if I ignore most of my emails?
App dashboards usually announce new features, so you can just visit the provider’s page to check for any new additions. Additionally, community forums (like our Inner Circle) are great for staying informed.

Your App Audit Journey

So there you have it—a practical guide to auditing, updating, and profiting from your e-commerce apps. Don’t let those apps run wild in your store; take control with a once to twice yearly audit.

Remember, it’s not about having the most apps; it’s about having the right ones that contribute to your success.

BONUS: The 5 Must-Have Apps for Profitable Stores

We often get asked about the best apps for e-commerce. Claudia and I compiled a list, but we didn’t stop there. We’ve created a free course that not only gives you the list but shows you how to make the most out of these apps.

In this course, you’ll get:

• Training on each app.
• Practical usage examples from successful Inner Circle members.
• Step-by-step guidance on maximizing these apps for profit.

Tap HERE to grab your free guide today.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

The Secret to Unlocking Growth for High AOV Stores

If you sell a higher price-point product, you may feel like you’re on a never-ending quest to boost your conversion rates. We talk about this a lot in the Inner Circle. So many of our members who sell higher priced items struggle to get their conversion rates to what they think should be “normal.” So if this is you–this episode might be your A-HA moment.

Meet Ana Bolanos, a thriving e-commerce entrepreneur just like you. She runs Limbo Imports, a haven for high-quality (and high-ticket) hammocks. Ana started selling her artisan-made cotton hammocks on Etsy and her own website at the same time. But even after reaching 6 figures on Etsy, she could not seem to move the needle on her own site.

Something Ana had to make peace with was that her conversion rate might never increase to that of a lower price point store, but that didn’t mean she had no options for growth. Here’s what she learned about succeeding with a luxury-priced item.

It’s All About the Audience

Let’s face it–high AOV stores aren’t your typical e-commerce ventures. You need those special customers willing to invest in your premium products. Ana, too, struggled at first. Her aha moment? Targeting *the right* audience. By refining her ad audience and emphasizing income levels, she attracted the folks who could genuinely appreciate her artisanal hammocks. 

Ana says the real game-changer for her paid efforts were Google Performance Max ads, which allowed her to really refine her audience targeting and ensure that her ads were shown to an income level that could afford her products.

From looking at her sales data, she made an educated guess that many of her customers were purchasing gifts. So she made it easy for gift-shoppers to find that perfect thing by putting a Best-Sellers Collection right at the top of her site. It gives customers the confidence to choose something the giftee will love, without overthinking it.

Persistence Pays Off

Have you ever seen an ad for a couch on social media, clicked it, and purchased it right away? Neither do most people. Ana knew that her hammocks were a bit like furniture–they required some time and consideration before customers were ready to pull out their credit cards. She realized that if she wanted to convert customers, she would need to show up for them consistently, over a longer period of time. Engaging through email marketing, social media, and retargeting ads, she kept her brand in front of potential customers so that when they were finally ready to make a decision, her store was top of mind (and top of inbox.)

Start with the Right Margins

The foundation of Ana’s success was setting her prices right from the get-go. You need those margins to support your marketing efforts, especially the extended retargeting campaigns that keep your brand top of customers’ minds.

Quality Over Quantity
When selling luxury items, it’s essential to assure potential buyers of your product’s quality. Ana did this through impeccable product descriptions, well-placed FAQ sections, and stunning images that showed multiple angles and detail shots of the product. The goal? Make sure her customers knew they were getting a top-tier product. She also tweaked the language in her ads to emphasize that her products were designer, handmade, and 100% cotton.
Ana noticed that she was getting the same questions from customers over and over again, so she added an FAQ section to her product pages. This did double duty–she was able to bust potential objections with timely information, while boosting customer confidence by reassuring them that she would stand by her products.

Upsells For The Win
Ana’s secret weapon? An upsell app. She was able to squeeze out an extra $20 from many of her customers. That boost to her Average Order Value, when applied to each and every order, added up to a major bump in overall revenue.

Adding a Little Extra
Ana also ventured into the world of licensed university hammocks, opening up new avenues for growth. By expanding your product line smartly, you can tap into different markets and multiply your success.

Putting It All Together

Let’s talk next steps…maybe it’s time to reassess your pricing, optimize your ad strategy, or add some FAQs to your website. Ana’s journey showcases that with persistence, the right audience, and a bit of creativity, you can overcome the challenges of high AOV e-commerce and achieve remarkable success.

Remember, it’s not always about the quantity of sales; it’s about the quality of your strategy. Keep these valuable lessons in your e-commerce toolkit as you embark on your journey to higher conversion rates and increased profitability.

Ready to discover even more strategies for your high AOV e-commerce store? Connect with Ana at www.limboimports.com for inspiration and insights.

Your e-commerce success story starts here.

Find Ana here: https://limboimports.com/

Related Links:
3 Genius Strategies to Increase AOV: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/3-genius-strategies-to-increase-your-aov-episode-72/

Pricing to Maximize Profit: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/pricing-to-maximize-profit-episode-167/

Forget Everything You Think You Know About Pricing, And Be Profitable: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/forget-everything-you-think-you-know-about-pricing-and-be-profitable-episode-43/

3 Reasons Why You Can’t Ignore Google’s Super Smart PMax Ads: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/3-reasons-why-you-cant-ignore-googles-super-smart-pmax-ads-episode-181

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

Why do some people make big progress fast while the rest of us take longer to find our path to success?

When Chontelle Fossey joined the Inner Circle, I kept my eye on her.

Chontelle owns The Lily Pot, a fast growing business in New Zealand where she sells and ships live house plants right from her home… that’s right, live!

Chontelle the perfect example of what’s possible when you focus on your goals, show up and actually ‘do the work’ to make them happen.

I first noticed Chontelle in our $15 Ads Made Easy week. Even though she worked in the opposite time zone, she was showing up and doing the work. I was intrigued, because she was getting good results from her ad tests even though she was selling live plants to a tiny audience.

When she joined the Inner Circle, I was watching.

In her first 5 months of being a member of the Inner Circle, Chontelle had a total transformation of her business and has even been able to pay herself  for 7 weeks in a row.

Chontelle’s generosity and passion for helping our other members to grow was infectious as she shared her progress in our Inner Circle Members group.

Not wanting others to struggle with the overwhelm, she regularly shares her wins and explains the methods behind how she achieves them. 

I was so impressed with Chontelle, I asked her to record a podcast with me so she could share the steps she took to reach her goals quickly. We recorded our episode a year ago. Since then, Chontelle has continued to make huge progress. She’s left her job to work full time on her business.
I know many of you are hoping to do the same. It’s possible for all of us.

You can listen to my episode with Chontelle here or read on to learn the 6 steps that brought her results faster.

“I’m quite a methodical person and that’s probably why I really connected with the inner Circle because everything was set out in short modules. I just worked through that, but I found it was through 6 clear steps that I took which made the biggest difference.”

Chontelle’s 3 steps to making big progress in your business:

1. Switch your email provider to Klaviyo and set up automations

Chontelle switched from a free version of Mailchimp to a paid Klaviyo plan to send her customer emails.
This can be scary for many business owners as they transition from a free plan to paid, but for Chontelle the choice was easy.
“I’m very much a person who likes to try it, analyze it, see if it works, and if it doesn’t, be done with it. My favorite quote is “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
After making the switch, Chontelle began automating her business by setting up a welcome series flow and creating a popup for her website.
Right off the bat Chontelle saw an increase in sales from her welcome series and was able to create more “set and forget” automations that created more sales, and saved her time.
“I’d seen pop ups and things on websites, but didn’t really understand the long game that they played and so understanding that and setting that up for my business really grew my email list.”

2. Know how to get consistent traffic to your website

Did you know that for every 100 people that visit your website, only 1-2 people will actually buy? And that’s only if you’re attracting the right audience!
This was a huge light bulb moment for Chontelle.
“My traffic wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t matching the sales that I wanted.”
She knew that in order to increase her sales, she needed to spend her time doing the work to drive consistent traffic to her website.
Chontelle took control.
She immersed herself in our Traffic Bootcamp modules and implemented the strategies.
She watched and analyzed her traffic, making sure that every action she took was to drive more traffic to her website. She stayed focused and based her decisions on the her traffic number each week.

3. Invest in paid ads

Chontelle is a strong believer in the power of organic traffic, but she also knew that in order to grow and scale her business, she would need to implement a paid ads strategy.
And it all started with Ads made easy.
“When I first started that I naturally saw an increase in sales. But what I loved about it was actually understanding how to.”
Because Chontelle understood how to make the ads work for her, she spent the time analyzing the data, then tweaking and modifying her ads to further drive traffic to her website.
“It was about spending the least amount I possibly could to get the most traffic from my ads to my site. Because if you’re going to spend money, you may as well have something that works for you.”
When she was ready to learn more, Chontelle took a step further by booking a call with an ecommerce coach from our Inner Circle program who specializes in the Facebook ads platform.

Here’s what she learned:

• Don’t reinvent the wheel.
  See what your competitors or big brands are doing with their ads by utilizing the Meta Ads Library. A resource that allows you to search all ads that are currently running across Meta platforms. Take inspiration that you can apply to your own ad copy or images.

   

   

• Stop people from scrolling.
  Test images in your ads to see what stops people from scrolling and gets them to click through to your website. After you find the best scroll-stopping images, test copy that will grab their attention, and get them clicking.

   

   

• Setup controlled tests.
  “Test a couple of different ads to see what really connects and what you can get your biggest bang for buck.”
  Learn how to set up, test your ads, and read the results, so that you can truly know which ad will perform best for your customer and get you the best value for money.

• Track your key metrics… and not just your sales
  It’s common in our business to focus on one number and one number only… sales.
  Chontelle approaches things a little differently.
  Instead of dwelling on the number of sales on a low sales week, Chontelle makes sure she checks all of her key metrics to find the wins, and also identifies where she could “double down” and take action.
  “You have a strategy to go to these numbers and solve the problem. You have to look at it from a long term perspective and sales is only one measure. If your other steps are tracking in the right direction, the sales will eventually follow, and may be better by spending the time getting things right before those sales come.”
  Here are the key metrics Chontelle tracks every week:

   

  • Email signups
  • Email signup rate
  • Facebook followers
  • Website traffic
  • Average order value
  • Website conversion rate

• Prioritize sending weekly emails
  Before joining the Inner Circle, Chontelle’s email marketing strategy was almost non-existent.
  She would send an email one week, then forget for the following two weeks.
  It wasn’t a priority.
  “Now I consistently send two to three a week and it is like a cash machine. I send an email and the sales follow”
  Chontelle also attributes her success to using a mix of two different types of emails:

   

  • Nurture Emails
    Nurture emails give back to your customer by providing them with value.
    If you continually send out “salesy” emails and your customer is not looking to buy at that time, they will stop opening your emails. This can hurt your email open rates and you might find your emails going straight into your customers’ spam folder.
    Chontelle send emails that link to her blog posts emails with plant care tips that provide value to her customers. For example: “It’s Winter, where do you now place your plants in your house?”
  • Sales Emails
    Each week Chontelle focuses on a specific product, collection or offer and follows this Reliable Revenue sending strategy.

     

    • Send one email to your full list.
    • The second email will be retargeting those who didn’t open. Focus on a different time of day to try to capture those who didn’t see it the first time.
    • The third email will be retargeting anyone who either opened or clicked on the first email but who didn’t buy. This is where the sales happen.

• Show up live on Facebook
  In this busy world that we live in, it’s common for posts to go unseen and get lost in the feed.
  Chontelle decided that it wasn’t enough for her to just post photos of plants and memes. When analyzing her content, she realized that the photos that got the highest engagement were always the photos that she was in.
  She needed to show up and put a face to her business in order to connect with her customers.
  And so she began to go live on Facebook.
  “I did 2 lives last week and sold $700 in products from those lives and I literally sat there, did a live for 5 minutes, looked at my app to see how many people were going to my website and it was like a cash machine.”

  Chontelle’s tips for going live on Facebook:

  • Choose a set day and time each week to go live.
    By showing up consistently your audience is more likely to join.
    Use your analytics to find out when your audience is the most active and go live at that time. Chontelle found that 8pm on a Thursday worked best for her.
  • Show off your product.
    Customers love to see your products up close and personal. Often website images make it hard to see the size or color of a product, so lives can be a great way to give your audience a better look and more of a reason to buy.
  • Give them a reason to buy
    Share a sale or special offer with your live audience to create scarcity, urgency or exclusivity. Don’t forget to ask for the sale.

Chontelle came into 2022 with a fire in her belly and a desire to grow her business.

While working at her full time job, with limited time to spare, Chontelle was able to show up and focus on these few tasks that would truly move the needle in her business.

I hope that you can onboard some of these strategies in your own business to help you fast track your business growth.

To check out the amazing business Chontelle has created and for all your plant tips and tricks, be sure to follow The Lily Pot or visit https://thelilypot.co.nz/

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New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.