PNW Web Marketing

11/21/2024

Walmart started winning the talent war 1- 2 years ago as other e-commerce giants were going through several layoffs.

Over the last two years, Walmart has been quietly hiring talent and moving them to Arkansas, while its rivals have been dumping talent.

It's interesting to see that they are now dominating financial results.

09/18/2024

Check out our latest post on holiday ad budgets

The holiday season is critical for e-commerce businesses, with consumers eager to spend on gifts, decorations, and festive treats. To capitalize on this surge in shopping activity, it’s essential to have a well-planned advertising budget. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you budget for holid...

07/26/2024

I am excited to announce the launch of my newsletter, “Direct Dive,” which comes out on the 1st of every month.

Each issue will cover:

1. Current retail marketing news and trends.
2. A tactical or strategic deep dive into 1 aspect of e-commerce marketing.
3. A featured DTC website that is doing something cool or excellent.

Sign up for my newsletter now(https://www.pnwwebmarketing.com/newsletter/) to improve your marketing prowess while you stay in touch with practical industry strategies and trends.

Sign up now to receive the first issue next Thursday.

I will cover Google's withdrawal from the Privacy Sandbox, designing product taxonomies, and examining the SEO of one niche DTC site.

Newsletter Direct Dive Expert Voices with Exclusive Insights Discuss DTC & Retail Marketing Growth Strategies Sign up and unsubscribe at any time. The newsletter is sent out on the first of every month. You will receive one email per month. Free and no blocked content. Actionable growth strategies f...

07/11/2024

Amazon is riddled with fake reviews, and they seem to have accepted it.

When I visited Amazon this week, my cart was replaced with a flyout saying I could test drive a web app that checks reviews for authenticity.

🤯

So now it's the customer's responsibility to use this handy app to comb through thousands of possible fake reviews, which may be fake in any number of ways, and make a decision.

This makes no sense to me. Amazon is still responsible for deceptive or misleading reviews, particularly if this tool actually works sometimes to identify fake reviews and they do not take action on them.

Further, it alerts customers that "reviews may be fake," undermining one of Amazon's best assets.

This test is just such a misguided approach to customer trust.

07/09/2024

DTC Prime Day Tip:

Price match your Prime deals on your DTC AND offer a new customer discount that stacks.

Low customer acquisition cost, and you secure future marketing opportunities via email/direct traffic/retargeting.

Customers will naturally search your brand if they are considering a deal, and you can offer them a chance to check out DTC - deepening your customer relationship.

07/01/2024

Q4 is just around the corner for retail; if you are not already planning your orders/advertising/deals/strategy, now is a great time to start.

Here are some essential points for Q4:

1. Forecast your demand for Q4, break it out by month, and plan any promotions you may want to support with inventory.

2. Calculate the inventory position you want based on your forecast, and be ready to place your orders in the correct window to arrive by sea before peak. If your demand is spread over Q4 or you want to mitigate your risk, you can stage these orders into separate orders a few weeks apart.

3. Create a tracker for your important marketing/opps/metrics. Marketing should have a calendar, operations should have inbound, processing, and fulfillment trackers, and the business should be on top of forecast to plan measurements.

4. Plan for a reduced workload in Q4 so that you have the extra time necessary to field customer issues, review order data, and react to peak.

5. If you have extra time before Q4 and don't know what to do: Review your unit economics for opportunities to increase profitability.

06/20/2024

When advertising your local service business (dentist, plumber, HVAC, remodel, attorney), get the basics right. The low-hanging fruit for these businesses are often left untouched, here are the most important things to get right:

1. Have a professional website, and try to update the information on it at least once a year based on the last year's work. Create a page on your website for every service or sub service you offer. It will help your customers, SEO, and give your PPC a better place to send customers than the home page.

2. Even if you are a B&M store, it's still worthwhile to use online catalog tools like Google Merchant Center. With free product ads, you can drive local foot traffic and sales.

3. Pay a local listing service and set up local listings on Google so you can be easily found on maps/when locals Google you. and

4. Evaluate where it is easiest to get customers; the big ones are Google/Meta and focus on one channel until it is profitable/stable.

5. Consider using Yelp ads. They have a lower cost of entry than Google Ads, and having a direct relationship with Yelp customers gives you more feedback on your business. Yelp customers interact more and review more than a random customer on Google.

6. Answer your phone when it gets called, you need to capture new leads as they come in or they will often go cold.

7. Focus marketing on the service offerings that attract new customers. Often, one service attracts new customers better.

8. If something is not working, even if it is a whole ad platform - move on and find a different marketing strategy. There are tons of advertising platforms to reach your audience as an SMB right now.

9. Use as high-quality media as you can afford, images, and video. Prefer better stock, and work toward creating your assets. One of the biggest marketing things you can do as a service provider is photograph your team or location to help your website feel professional.

10. If marketing is eating up your profits or is too expensive - switch to sales. Sales take more time and less money when doing it yourself.

06/13/2024

Web page speed optimization tip:

Trying to measure and improve site speed using Page Speed Insights from Google (Lighthouse)?

Did you know that in addition to the simulated tests from Page Speed Insights, you can see what actual users experience with these metrics by installing Microsoft Clarity?

Microsoft Clarity reports on-site speed experienced by your real users, and this is only one of the super helpful things you can check with Microsoft Clarity.

Bonus GT Metrix make a super useful simulated testing tool that supplements page speed insights.

06/10/2024

Is your SaaS or tech company desperate enough to try a link exchange?

Note the red flags:

1. $100k of value for $0, nothing in life is free, excellent backlinks.

2. It claims to avoid "any risk".

3. It lacks details on the quality of link you get relative to what you provide.

What should you do instead?

1. Hire a PR expert
2. Hire a technology expert who can write or better record video
3. Buy links via outreach campaign

Not sure how to start buying links like the pros?

It's a cold email campaign; you need the exact same setup as a sales outreach campaign, but you tailor your list and message to pitch buying links.

It's actually way easier to buy links like this than it is to get sales via cold email - you would be surprised how quickly people respond to cold emails when you are trying to give them money.

06/06/2024

When I first started changing my oil, I would look up the exact specs for the oil, drain plug, and filter and buy the parts ahead of time.

Then, when I got a chance, I would get under my car and do an oil change. I would typically start by checking the oil level and then pulling the oil drain plug. I was younger when I did this and inexperienced at a lot of things - not just car maintenance.

So, after I pulled my drain plug, I would toss it in the trash and move to the oil filter. I would unscrew the filter and let it drain.

This one time, I was changing my oil, and I went to put in the new oil plug, but it did not fit. I had ordered the wrong part and had no backup to get to the auto shop. I had to wait for my wife to get home and run out for the part - most of the day without a car.

After that, I always carefully saved the parts I pulled out of my vehicle so that if I had the wrong part or something went wrong, I could revert.

I think this is a great illustration of knowledge versus practical experience.

Someone excellent at their job will have the practical experience and apply the learnings to mitigate downsides while maximizing upside. A big part of knowledge gaining is using your ideas and observing the outcome.

06/05/2024

Good news! Genius Elon now allows pornography/### material on X!

If you were worried that X would not prioritize safety after eliminating 90% of the teams responsible for it, worry no more!

The internet's most responsible platform will be there to protect children and prevent the exploitation that is going to blossom on X. I guess Mr. Beast couldn't juice X's DAU enough.

Watch out, Open AI - there's someone else out there who DGAF about kids, or safety and is desperate for "customers".

I

06/04/2024

E-commerce businesses and brands are in for a rude awakening after a surge in e-commerce over the last several years. In the last 2 years, we are not just buying more things online; we are doing it in new ways (direct import) and with thousands of new product types.

For example, the explosion of the 3P supplements space, or even DTC brands becoming their own retailer, has put many people (including customers) in a dangerous spot.

To win a product liability case against a brand or unsafe product, a plaintiff has to establish negligence against one person in the supply chain (manufacturer, distributor, or retailer).

There are going to be many lawyers making their bones suing the whole chain, particularly VC startups and even TEMU / Shein, for sending unsafe products to customers.

You don't want to be involved in one of these lawsuits and you sell high-risk items (toys, health-related items, dangerous items), get protected with insurance—talk to a lawyer if you need to.