Customers Who Click

https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakeimperl/

https://www.attentivemobile.com/
In episode 113 of the Customers Who Click podcast I sat down with Blake Imperl, the Head of Partner Community at Attentive, to discuss SMS, and how it will contribute to ecommerce growth over the coming years. Attentive is an SMS platform allowing for both highly personalised messaging and conversational SMS.SMS, at its core, is a relationship building channelThere’s more to SMS than just a revenue channel, and infact if you treat it as one, you’ll see your list disappear quicker than a Man Utd title challenge.Blake is the Head of Partner Community at Attentive, you can find him on LinkedIn or head over to the Attentive website.Key highlights:02:53 - 10:35 - Biggest Opportunities for D2C Growth - SMS has really developed and matured as a channel in the last couple of years. It got a bit of a stigma as a promotional, spammy channel, and actually what customers want from it is 2 way communication. They want to use it as a way of having a relationship with a brand. SMS can and does drive a lot of revenue as well, but when used properly to enrich the customer experience, rather than spam it.It’s the perfect channel to deliver important messages to customers. Whether those are transactional related to an order such as order confirmation, shipping updates, or giving customers ways to actually order products.10:51 - 38:08 - Top Tips & Best Practise for SMS - Invest in conversational commerce, this can require a team particularly for a concierge style service but it is so powerful and is going to get even better, particularly if you enrich your data. If you don’t want to go down the team route, then you can build out personalised, targeted automation flows that answer common questions. Attentive are finding that customers who engage with conversational SMS spend about 31% more on average.Allow customers to continue the conversation in their own time. One of the problems with live chat is that its difficult on phone because you have to keep that screen open, and even on a laptop, its very easy to lose yourself in some work while youre waiting for an agent, and when you come back they’ve already ditched you.SMS allows people to respond when they want to, quite similar to email support, but crucially, the customer is likely to receive their response quicker. 38:26 - 44:53 - What Results are Brands Seeing? - On average, Attentive sees a 42% response rate from the first SMS message. Thats insane really, you’re lucky to get 42% open rate on an email, let alone actual responses! As mentioned before, brands are seeing about a 31% uplift in spend, and then there are the unattributable benefits. The relationships you build, the word of mouth you generate by giving people great experiences. 45:53 - Who Would Blake Like to Take For Lunch in the D2C Marketing World?John Ivanco, he pokes holes in everything, and thinks really differently about the ecommerce space and the customer journey. 58:15 - Blake’s Must-Have Ecommerce Tools:

• Pen & paper for notes and to do lists etc
• Asana
• Google suite

A roundtable would be amazing with Ben Jabbawy from Privy, Adam Kitchen, Jeremy Horowitz, myself, and hosted by the guys at Future Commerce.If you’d like to hear more from Blake, you can connect with him on LinkedIn or head over tohttps://www.attentivemobile.com/.

92. Give your customers what they want and watch your sales grow
“The number one driver of growth is always sales. And the number one way of getting more sales is to drive the customer behaviours that equate to sales.”“You can't take the mindset that says, well, it's worked for the last 10 years. So we should just keep doing what we're doing. That's what Kodak tried to do. That's what Blockbuster tried to do.”In episode 92 of the Customers Who Click podcast, I had a great chat with Howard Tiersky about how ecommerce businesses need to adapt and innovate to provide more value for the customer and grow.Who doesn’t remember Blockbusters? It’s all that we have left today - a memory, because as we know Blockbusters failed to take advantage of the digital transformation and... Well. You know who rules the streaming world today *cough* Netflix *cough* .Blockbusters, and many other long-established businesses ceased to exist in the recent years for one simple reason: they failed to serve their customers’ needs. The good news is, these are extreme examples, but I also know that many of today’s DTC brands struggle to provide more value for their customers and as a result, watch them leave one by one in favour of competitors who offer better customer experience.How can you change that? If you feel like you’re forever a step behind your competitors, and can’t seem to really understand what drives your customers, this episode is for you.Howard is a speaker, author and digital marketing consultant who helps the world's largest brands navigate digital transformation — to re-invent their customer journeys to earn the love of today's "Digital Customers." In the 20 years of his professional career, Howard has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies, including General Motors, General Electric, NBC, Universal, Avis or Airbus. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter or head over to https://www.from.digital/. Key Highlights12:28 - 18:05 - How to find out what customers really want - Focus on the needs, not the solution. If you’re trying to figure out how you can better serve your customers, don’t just settle when they tell you they need a particular product - dig deeper and find out WHY . Where are their current points of pain? Where is their current level of inconvenience? We talked before about the importance of convenience. What? What is it that's taking their time, their energy?Bear in mind though, this isn’t about asking the customer about what’s next. Each customer journey elicits both, positive and negative emotions. For you to be able to add more value to that journey, you need to start removing touchpoints that create friction - and build on those that make customers feel good about shopping with your brand.19:42 - 23:18 - Recreating That In-Store Shopping Experience Online - The one thing we don’t see enough in DTC today is the same level of personalisation and customer service we get in brick-and-mortar shops. Even though online shopping is a lot more convenient, consumers still prefer to shop on the high street simply because they can chat with the shop assistant to find exactly what they’re looking for. Going forward, brands who cannot provide the same level of personalisation might struggle - and even share the fate of Blockbusters.23:18 - 31:35 - Resistance to Change Is Your Bigger Obstacle - If you could pick any company that went out of business due to failure to transform and ask what they would do differently if they could rewind the clock, you will find somebody in their organisation screaming and yelling at a senior level that the transformation is necessary. Just because what you’ve been doing got you so far, even if it allowed you to considerably grow your business, might also sink it if you’re refusing to adjust to the challenges for further growth.How can you create a culture where change is embraced, and not feared? The most fundamental reason that people resist change is that they just don't think it'd be good for them individually - even if it is good for the company; it could be as simple as employees fear that the latest technology will replace them. Howard provides 12 different strategies in his book, but it starts with showing people within your company how the change will benefit them all.31:47 - Who Would Howard Like to Take For Lunch in the D2C Marketing World? Mark Zuckerberg and Howard would love to know how Mark copes with stress.If you’d like to hear more from Howard, you can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter or head over to https://www.from.digital/.

"There is something to be said about raw and organic content and it tends to resonate with exactly who you're targeting because you're using your target audience to communicate what they love about it."In episode 78 of the Customers Who Click podcast, I had an invigorating chat about UGC (User Generated Content) with very talented Saunder Schroeder about how UGC works, how to create it, mistakes to avoid when creating UGC, and some tools and examples which can be useful in UGC creation.The great thing about UGC is that it's actually pretty easy to obtain. It can be used in advertising, on social media, on your website, and in your emails - you name it - UGC fits there.A lot of brands implement UGC quite well while others make huge blunders with it that take away the raw appeal of UGC.Saunder Schroeder is the CMO of Disruptive Advertising, a paid media agency. He originally started his career in digital marketing with his own company where he used UGC to sell watches manufactured in China. After moving on from the founding role, Saunder has gained an immense experience of 12 years in D2C marketing across various eCommerce companies and marketing agencies.If you have any questions about UGC, feel free to email Saunder or reach out to him on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram (just remember to start by building a genuine relationship and not push your products in the first message).

If you're in ecommerce download your free podcast bonuses here: https://tinyurl.com/523dxtyx Dive into an engaging discussion with Chloe Thomas on Customers Who Click, where she shares her two-decade journey in ecommerce and the art of continuous optimization. Chloe emphasizes the power of a well-curated tech stack and the need for a holistic approach to business improvement. Whether it's marketing strategies, operational policies, or technological enhancements, learn how constant refinement can propel your ecommerce venture forward. This episode is packed with actionable insights, making it an essential listen for ecommerce professionals seeking to elevate their business in a competitive landscape.

Key Insights & Quotes:1. The Unmatched Potential of TikTok Shops:
Insight: Jordan emphasizes the groundbreaking potential of TikTok shops in e-commerce, likening its impact to the rise of Amazon.
Quote: "TikTok shops is the biggest opportunity since Amazon."
Timestamp: 27:54.5812. The Evolution of Influencer Marketing:
Insight: Jordan discusses how TikTok shops are transforming influencer marketing, promoting authenticity and effectiveness.
Quote: "It's changing the entire influencer ecosystem. Everything's changing. It's phenomenal."
Timestamp: 30:16.5133. The Power of Customer-Generated Content:
Insight: Jordan highlights the significance of customer-generated content (CGC) over traditional user-generated content (UGC) in building genuine brand engagement.
Quote: "Customer-generated content is phenomenal."
Timestamp: 17:34.6494. Focusing on Quality over Quantity in Marketing:
Insight: Jordan advocates for the creation of quality content, emphasizing its impact over mass-produced, low-quality content.
Quote: "Let's get some quality content from our customers."
Timestamp: 19:14.9975. The Role of Empathy in Agency Success:
Insight: Jordan shares his belief in empathy as a crucial element for agencies to truly support and understand brand owners' challenges.
Quote: "I always take the side of the brand owner because it's so much bigger than what you think."
Timestamp: 22:34.6196. The Importance of Focus in Business:
Insight: Reflecting on his career, Jordan mentions that a lack of focus was a major mistake, highlighting the importance of concentrating efforts for success.
Quote: "Not focusing sooner."
Timestamp: 30:46.7657. Challenges with Agency-Brand Relationships:
Insight: Jordan points out the common misalignment between agencies and brand owners, stressing the need for agencies to truly understand and address the brands' goals.
Quote: "No one wants to hire an ad agency. That's not what they want to do."
Timestamp: 22:57.8858. The Future of E-Commerce Lies in Social Platforms:
Insight: Jordan predicts that social platforms, particularly TikTok, will play a crucial role in the future landscape of e-commerce.
Quote: "The future of e-commerce lies in platforms like TikTok."
Timestamp: 29:19.7939. The Essence of Candid Communication in Business:
Insight: Jordan emphasizes the need for honest and direct communication in business relationships to foster improvement and success.
Quote: "People will not change unless you're candid with them."
Timestamp: 31:46.055If you'd like to hear more from Jordan you can find him on LinkedIn or head over to the UpGrowth Commerce website.