Around the Workstand

In this engaging episode, we had a lively conversation with Julie Walsh, our marketing strategist at WorkStand, discussing the Spring Marketing Playbook. Julie shared insightful tips and tricks for preparing your business for the spring selling season. We delved into the importance of cleaning up your website, updating settings, and ensuring a fresh, spring-like feel to attract customers. Recommendations included activating the shopping cart feature and utilizing Google Local Shopping Ads to boost sales.

https://blog.workstand.com/spring-2024-marketing-playbook
https://workstand.com/help/google-shopping

We touched on the significance of automated post-purchase email campaigns and maintaining consistent communication with customers through newsletters and engaging social media content. Julie emphasized the value of simplifying content, making it visually appealing, and ensuring it aligns with the brand's personality.

Additionally, we explored the role of incorporating brand content, such as product launches or collaborations, to enhance your website's appeal and keep customers informed about new arrivals. The conversation highlighted the ease of implementing pre-designed content to give your website a fresh look without overwhelming yourself with intricate details.

As we wrapped up, we encouraged listeners to explore the available resources on our website, engage with our marketing agency for personalized guidance, and stay tuned for future episodes where we'll have our President, Ryan, back to share his industry insights. Julie's expertise and practical advice provided a comprehensive guide to revamping your marketing strategy for the upcoming season.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Workstand was invited to present this week at the NBDA P2 Group meeting. We were both there along with Lauren Webb, our Agency Director, and Matt Viara, our Paid Search Team Manager, and we talked about ways to improve ecommerce performance. There were some great questions and conversations so we thought we’d hit the highlights of that meeting today.

Custom Websites - it’s about more than just design

• Content Planning
  • Organic Search
  • Paid Search Destination
• Sales metric improvements
  • Average Order Value
  • Revenue Per Session
  • Conversion Rate
  • In-store traffic and sales

Data Management

• What if my Point of Sale data isn’t great?
• Would it make more sense to manage website inventory manually?
• Does all that supplier data clutter up the shopping experience?

Point of Sale

• Why did we build ours and who do we expect will use it?
• POS doesn’t have to be complicated.

Tech Tip: If you’re already a Workstand website client, our POS features are live in your admin now. Take a look, particularly at how simply an in-store sale can be yet how powerful with all of your suppliers on tap. Check out your Template Publisher and Theme Editor to personalize your look. Let’s talk about custom if you want to go from personalized to customized. Finally, how are you performing relative to those metrics we talked about? 

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

The beginning of the New Year is always a time of reflection, goal setting, and transformation. It’s a great time to look at your website the same you may be looking at your life, career, fitness, etc.

We can break this process down into 5 different phases:

• Step 1: Goal setting
• Step 2: Review
• Step 3: Plan
• Step 4: Train
• Step 5: Promote 

1. Goal setting
   1. Look over your sales, marketing, processes, and important areas of your business to set attainable goals for 2024/2025.
   2. Sales growth, category growth, marketing performance, marketing cadence, add-on sales.
      1. DELEGATE - get multiple opinions, don’t be afraid to get creative.
2. Review your website  - this can seem like a like but if we focus on your website as the place to ground your goals, everything else can work around it. You’ll have an accurate representation of your business, an effective link destination, and a place to attract new customers while you sleep/work in your store, etc.
   1. Look and feel
   2. Catalog 
   3. Merchandising
   4. Services
   5. Community, staff, mission, etc. - what’s important to you, the fun stuff, what sets you apart
   6. The shopping process
3. Plan - break up this work into smaller pieces 
   1. Reach out for help - your team, customers, friends, US!
   2. Tip: start with the homepage - this can help guide the rest of your decisions or areas of focus.
4. Train - make sure your whole team is on board and has the tools/knowledge to help you achieve your goals.
5. Promote - you did all this work, you set the goals, and you’re motivated to bring in new business - now take an active role in growing your business.
   1. Build an easy-to-follow marketing schedule 
   2. Utilize tools you're comfortable with but also take this opportunity to try new technology, services, and outlets
      1. Traditional email marketing, social media, automated email marketing, google ads/local listings 

Tech tip: Leverage pre-built content from the library

• Working on, revamping, or redesigning your website can be overwhelming when you’re learning but a great way to lighten your load is by using complementary content.
• Use the structure, the images, or the inspiration - swap out what doesn’t fit your business and your goals.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Welcome to a new year! It’s the beginning of our 25th Anniversary as a company.

Fraud is a constant topic of concern for our merchants. Just because Christmas has passed doesn’t mean there isn’t still potential for chargebacks related to those sales. Coming out of a heavy holiday sales season, let’s look at how you can protect your business without losing too many sales going forward. How can you document your processes and support your team in a way that ensures the best chance of dealing with fraud effectively?

Here's our Limiting Fraud Help Center Article

• Common types of fraud
  • Stolen cards/card numbers
  • Returns of altered products
  • Friendly Fraud - it isn’t really
• Understanding the landscape and the risk - it’s not all bad, almost all transactions are legitimate
  • How your ecommerce setup can help or contribute to fraudulent transactions
  • Just because an order makes it through Stripe, PayPal, or any provider doesn’t mean it is guaranteed to be a legitimate transaction
  • What to look for in orders that should make you suspicious
  • What to do if suspect an order is fraudulent
    • Google the address
    • Call the phone number
  • Orders for pick up in-store can be fraud too
    • Process for verifying orders/identity
    • Document and display your procedures
    • Support your staff if you want them to support you
• Credit card processor/gateway fraud measures and notifications vs Workstand’s own efforts
• Merchants are ultimately responsible and left holding the bag
• Ask for help. There is nothing we or any provider can do to prevent 100% of the fraud or guarantee an order is legitimate but we will review orders with you, and share insight based on our experience.
• Tech Tip: Determine your procedures for dealing with fraud and document it. Train your team on those procedures and support them in dealing with customers. Remember, they may be dealing with brazen criminals and that isn’t easy. If they don’t feel like the owner and management have their back, there isn’t much incentive to uphold the procedures.
• What’s coming up next? What’s new for 2024? Our marketing packages have been enhanced to deliver more value, new Google local ads management package

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Barbara Wiesner has been with Workstand for nearly 18 years. She knows more of our clients and more of our clients know her than anyone else who works at Workstand. Barbara has done a little bit of everything at the company, from the relatively early SmartEtailing days until today, she is a leader who is adept at helping both our teams and our clients succeed.

Remember all those meetings at Interbike? Barbara does. She met with clients for years and helped wrangle all that trade show madness to ensure we were able to visit, face to face, with as many SmartEtailing/Workstand merchants as possible.

What would Workstand today be like without Barbara? Well, let's all be glad we haven't had to find out.

See you around the Workstand!

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Suzie got a new bike and other completely expected events. We're in the final days before the big holiday. Be sure your website is ready for last-minute shoppers.

• I bought a bike from my local bike shop! Happy holidays to me.
  • Just like Workstand, I don’t play favorites…
  • https://workstand.com/request-a-brand
  • Other brand updates in our monthly update blog + quarterly brands and supplier newsletter 
• Final holiday push ideas
  • Last minute gifts 
  • Gifts in store and ready to pick up today
  • Staff picks
  • Gifts under $50/$25
  • Gifts to show your love - small, safety-oriented stocking stuffers - lights, bells, mirrors, fun reflective items 
  • Kids’ bikes 
• Make sure you have your post-holiday plan in place
  • Lots of News Years and winter complimentary content is live in your page library
    • Resolutions, winter riding, snow sports 
• What’s next from Around the Workstand
  • Client Success Team leader, Barbara Wiesner will join us next week, December 19th.
  • Off the 26th and 2nd
  • We’ll see you again on January 9th!
• Tech Tip: Financing options - the option to budget a large purchase can often be the difference between checking out and abandoning the cart. Use Klarna and/or PayPal financing to raise your conversion rate and average order value.
• Catalog sections - be sure you’re getting the results you expect and don’t over do it with selection parameters.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Inventory visibility online - a quick primer - What is SEO and Organic Search and what is SEM and paid search?

• When we work with merchants to help grow sales, we think about two high-level ideas concerning website traffic - Organic/SEO and Paid Search/SEM
• Organic/SEO is working on the website’s content in order to be an attractive option for a search engine to choose when someone searches for a particular topic. It’s what the website does to draw in traffic.
  • Quality content
    • What represents your business, people, products, services, and community…
  • Active management of the website
    • Homepage merchandising - well-maintained websites perform well and are easy to navigate/shop
      • How often? Hero, monthly. The entire homepage, consider seasonally. 
    • Catalog maintenance - at least monthly?
  • Ancillary, off-site activity
    • Google My Business, Social platforms
• Paid Search/SEM is, as the name suggests, paid for so that a business has a better opportunity than Organic search to win a high-intent shopper
  • We primarily work in Google Ads
  • Product and/or Awareness focus
• I said two but those two together end up producing a third hybrid opportunity - free shopping ads on Google
  • Must have your data so setting up Google Merchant Center is required and providing Google with a compliant product data feed is also required - luckily, your Workstand website does this for you.
  • You have no control over the products that show or where they show up - Google algorithms handle all of that
• Tech Tip: Enable Google Shopping
  • Settings > Marketing > Google Shopping
  • Deal with the beast that is Google Merchant Center or let us help

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

How’s the holiday selling season going? This is a good time to assess your success so far and make changes if needed.

• Feeling great! Sales have been strong.
  • Perhaps no further sales or discounts are in order
  • Keep the website up to date, use a gift guide or homepage sections to call out what’s available, but hold pricing
  • Hold all proactive marketing as is - do not decrease that activity as it’s likely a large part of why things have gone well so far
  • Be sure all external marketing has clear calls to action and paths back to your website. Social, email, print, et al
  • Decide your hours heading into the final stretch and be sure they are updated on all platforms.
• Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Small Business Saturday were not so great. We need more!
  • Get a sale configured and installed on your website now!
    • POS pricing updated
    • Prominent homepage messaging leaning on sale pricing, free add-ons, free shipping, upgrades, and anything that can spur action
    • Focus heavily on what is available in the store now for purchase
    • Promote convenience. We have this now, ready for pickup. We will hold all purchases until December X, at 4 pm to help maintain the element of surprise
  • Increase your proactive marketing efforts
    • If you’re sending one promotional email each month, send two (or 4)
    • Increase the frequency of social media posting
    • Be sure all external marketing has clear calls to action and paths back to your website. Social, email, print, et al
    • Assign someone to monitor and respond to all inquiries - phone, email, FB messenger, Instagram, TikTok messages
    • Increase your paid ads budget and use that to reach more buyers with the intent to purchase
• Tech Tip: Get help. You know how you think of most home bike mechanic’s work, right? Well, that’s often how marketing looks when a busy business owner tries to learn a new thing in the busiest time of the year in hopes of somehow becoming a marketing expert overnight. The results often end up looking like that derailleur with the limit screws cranked down or missing, all jammed in the spokes with the chain hopelessly wedged between the chainrings and the frame. Let someone help you. Let us help you.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

This week, we are discussing the upcoming holiday season and the importance of retailers preparing for it. We mention holidays such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Small Business Saturday. It's crucial for businesses to take action during this time, as there is a higher sales volume compared to other months. We highlight the high intent to buy during this season and the potential for increased conversion rates and revenue per session.

To effectively prepare for the holiday season, we break down the discussion into categories of who, what, when, where, and how. Starting with the importance of seasonally relevant homepage merchandising, we emphasize the need to communicate who you are and why customers should shop with you. It's essential to have holiday content on your website, such as a gift guide or information about sales. Updating other sections of your website to be more seasonally relevant, like discussing winter bike maintenance, can also attract customers.

Customers appreciate businesses that have consistent and clearly stated holiday hours and closures. Therefore, it's essential to update your website and other platforms like Google My Business and Facebook with accurate information. 

Providing a tech tip, we suggest using start and end dates to schedule content on the website, ensuring that the right content is displayed at the right time. For businesses needing assistance, we offer our help through our success team and agency subscriptions for website maintenance needs. We also note that we can help with one-time projects or temporary relief of duties, even if a business is not interested in a subscription. Businesses are encouraged to reach out to us for support, and we mention that all the information is available in our Help Center.

In conclusion, we extend our wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving and express our willingness to see everyone around the work stand.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Let’s get to the basics Around the Workstand - your website, what you’re presenting to the shopping public, why it matters (search, conversion, credibility)

• Your website is the cornerstone of your marketing, the first thing most new customers see about your business, and how it is presented determines to a large extent what you will sell (or not sell) online AND in your store. Get it right!
• If you aren’t displaying what matters to you, what value proposition your store offers, what services you offer, products consumers care about, you just can’t win search and you can’t matter to most consumers.
• The goal is to win searches - for every person who just decides to wander into a store and see what’s there, there are hundreds or even thousands who never saw or considered a store because they have poor or no search visibility. Google matters.
• When consumers do find your website, will they be impressed and convinced of your professionalism? A catalog full of products with prices and availability BUT no way to purchase them is a gigantic roadblock and likely a red flag to shoppers. They won’t just decide to drive down to your store to find out if they can buy what they want, they’ll simply move on to a result that offers what they want in the way they want it.
• What to do. 
  • Ensure your website is shoppable in a sensible way. Categories grouped, navigation is simple and intuitive, catalog is accurate, services are clear, and pricing and availability are clear for everything you offer. 
  • All content should look good on all devices.
  • Payment options and delivery options should be as plentiful as you can manage.
  • Ask for help. Our Client Success team will help with training and pointing you in the right direction. Our Marketing Agency team will simply do the work for you.
    • Complimentary site review - https://workstand.com/website-review
• Tech Tip: I think today’s tip is to do all that stuff we just talked about. Do it now. It will make you money.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].