The Yin-Yang of Branded & Unbranded Traffic

“I’ve got a bit of a bugbear at the moment,” vents Abbie Dando, founder of Monday Clicks.

“Our agency specialises in organic search. One of the things that I’ve recognised this year is branded versus non branded traffic, and it’s the big brands that are the biggest culprits of it.” 

Those big brands – the ones who have already got a massive customer brand following – have gotten a bit too lazy in the non-branded traffic space, she argues. 

“But because everybody is saying that sales are down, I’m seeing a lot of businesses throw more money at paid marketing,” she says. “And I’m not against paid marketing because it’s important, but it’s only one part of the funnel. I think, don’t throw it all at paid, fill this gap with non-branded traffic.”

By neglecting non-branded organic traffic, brands are missing out on a truckload of potential new customers who are actively searching for their products or services but may not know their brand name yet.

At eCommerce Leaders, Abbie will join us to show us unbranded traffic is the most underrated and underutilised aspects of marketing, and how you can make the most of it by balancing it with paid. If you’ve been struggling with your paid marketing recently, then perhaps it’s time to think of other avenues. [Read more]

How You Can Overcome the ‘Digital Demise’

The digital world is getting harder and harder to navigate. 

Simon Bollon, founder and director at BOUTIQUE, believes online sellers are in the midst of a ‘digital demise’.

“I think navigating the algorithms and understanding organic search is ever harder,” he says. “Especially as paid search is growing even more competitive, meaning there are more and more brands in your niche, making it harder to stand out.”

But the real kick in the face to smaller agencies is Google’s new advertising platform: Performance Max. 

“[With PMax], Google claims that they’re spending the money for you to get ads in people’s faces,” says Simon. “There’ll be agencies that say it’s brilliant and that they get good results out of it. But my personal take is that it’s structured for large spending agencies; it’s a bit of a disaster for smaller SMEs.”

“Because Google owns it and it’s on their platform, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

So how can agencies overcome the “Digital Demise”? 

At eCommerce Leaders, Simon will be joining us to have a conversation about how eCommerce agencies like you can overcome the ‘Digital Demise’ and offer you a sense of levity in the fact that you’re not alone. [Read more]

A Guide to the Amazon Brand Lifecycle

Where do your clients sit in their Amazon brand lifecycle?

A lot of eCommerce brands think they know, but they’re often way off the mark.

RT7 Digital, a 12 year-old Amazon marketing agency, has seen this time and time again. 

“Brands are too busy going through the motions without actually stepping back and going, ‘Hold on, where are we?’” says Mike Walker, Head of Marketing at RT7 Digital. “They’re reactively approaching the space rather than proactively stopping to assess where they are, what’s working, and what’s not.”

So, to circumvent this, they’ve developed a model to help brands understand exactly where they are in their Amazon journey – and more importantly, where they need to go next.

RT7’s model breaks down the Amazon brand lifecycle into four key phases, and the thing is – your brand might not fit neatly into just one phase, which is why you need to understand the nuances of each. 

At eCommerce Leaders, Sean MacMahon will dive deep into their Amazon brand lifecycle model, and explain how you can accurately assess a brand’s position, common pitfalls, and strategies for each phase of the journey. [Read more]

Are You Really a Full Service eCommerce Agency?

A lot of eCommerce agencies say they’re ‘full service’, when really… they’re not.

Beth Ashworth, partnerships and marketing director at Sitruna, knows this all too well. She’s seen countless agencies claim to be ‘full service’, but then fall short in some crucial areas – rendering the term a mere buzz word.

“We’ve seen that brands can have every single element of their strategy in place and optimised, whether that’s PPC, graphics, content, copy, tech – everything you need to succeed on Amazon, for example,” she explains. “But all of that ends up being wasted money because they have so many stock issues.”

“We’re the only UK agency that is also a 3PL,” boasts Beth. “The only actual full-service offering that extends into logistics.”

“We had an in-house notebook brand called Beachmore Books,” says Beth. “It was kind of like our sandbox – before we would recommend something to clients, we’d experiment with it ourselves.”

“We faced logistical issues [with Beachmore books] and realised there wasn’t a good enough solution out there. So we decided to create one.”

At eCommerce Leaders, Beth with be joined by managing director, James Thomas, to share how agencies can evolve to meet the changing needs of e-commerce brands based on her own experiences, and how their move into logistics has transformed their relationships with clients. [Read more]