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In 2018 I thought it would of without saying the if you have an e-commerce store that you would also have an abandon cart sequence. What I am discovering is that many online retailers are still missing this as part of their sales funnel.  

Why?

It goes without saying that your market attention is split in many directions and at the time they are browsing your store they are also looking at alerts from social media, emails, phone calls, texts etc. It is not uncommon for some to add an item in the cart and then leave the website to do other things. Most likely they will forget that they were on your website in the first place. That is why sending abandon cart sequences are so profitable. A simple email reminder at its most basic may be enough to get the prospect to complete the sale.

According to Omnisend, 2018 sending 3 abandon cart emails results in 69% more sales than sending a single email.

Imagine what all those other online retailers are missing that do not have an abandon cart sequence in place. This is where I think smaller store can really win. If a small Shopify store had an abandon cart sequence set up so when their prospects  left items in their cart. They could save the sale and possible outperform other businesses that have a bigger budget but do not have an email sequence in place to handle abandon carts. I think an establish retailer could mop up all the extra cash that is left on the table because companies do not invest in having an email copywriter create their abandon cart sequence as well.

It takes a lot more than sending traffic from Facebook, Google, Instagram and Influencers to make an ecommerce store profitable. As long as these retailers continue to allow the leaks in their revenue from not having something as simple as an abandon cart sequence setup. They are leaving the door open for smaller and smarter retailers to dominate the market.

This week being the official start of the Holiday shopping season. There is still time for those that do not have an abandon cart sequence up and running in time for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. To see how you can have an abandon cart sequence created for your business contact me at lauren@storybrandstrategist.com.

 

This video is everything and more. Talk about storytelling in such a way but yet leaving it up to interpretation. Every time you watch it. You will  find something new. I think just about everything has a meaning.  Donald Glover created this masterpiece and then released without explanation. He has people going crazy trying to figure out what he is thinking.

They want to know the reason why and if their take on this awesome video is correct. If you didn’t know who this man was which at this point with his successful show and the his new role a Lando in The Star Wars Movie Solo. Then you will certainly know his name. This video ha gone viral with over 4.5 million views and a ton of commentary. That is something to think about if you plan on using video for your brand. Can you tell a story that is so eye           catching and makes the viewer watch many times over.

Can you create something that makes people want to discuss it and argue over it?

If you could would you want to. With this video came more criticism of Mr. Glover for some past comments and his current relationship. When you succeed in creating something like this you have to be ready for what people thought of you and judgement of your actions. It’s not easy but perhaps the sweetness of the fruit of PR is worth it. I think this video was important and will be in the future because while Donald Glover isn’t promoting a famous brand he is promoting Donald Glover and a version of America that seem all too realistic.

Eh’ maybe it’s just me going too deep on this video.

What do you think?

If you like what you read and want more pop culture with a dose of marketing click the link below to join the list.

https://forms.aweber.com/form/42/338552542.htm

Subscription boxes are very popular with many including myself becoming subscribes of different boxes. Having the perfect little monthly or bimonthly gift to yourself to gush on your favorite activity, fandom, hobbie or to take care of a basic need without it having to occupy precious space on your to do list such as dress socks is why many consumers love the model. The companies producing these boxes have a steady flow of customers every month in which they can focus on things like acquisition of new customers and pleasing their current subscribers.

However many subscription box companies are leaving thousands…and in some cases millions of dollars on the table by not employing a very simple strategy.

Email Marketing to their paid subscriber list.

 

Subscription box companies are always on the hunt for more subscribers. It’s the nature of the beast because just because they a business model that has a more stable revenue flow doesn’t mean that your current subscribers will stay subscribers forever. The average for most subscription boxes to keep a subscriber is 3 months which means that most companies using this model have to keep bringing in a certain amount of new subscribers every month to make up for the ones they lose.

More time and money has to be spent on marketing to attract and then sell potential subscribers on the product. It would make sense to offer current subscribers more offers on other products while they are still subscribers.

 

A carefully created yet simple email marketing campaign sent to current paid subscribers could boost monthly revenue for a subscription box business easily. Most companies don’t do this and therefore miss out on the extra revenue that they could have made from their very own buyers lists.

For example: Comic Bento a comic book subscription box service where I am a currently subscriber.

Every month they send me a box of comic books based on a theme that they choose. I pay them their fee and they send me my mystery box where I get to discover what’s inside.

It’s a very simple model and I have been a subscriber for over a year and the only emails I get from them as a paid subscriber has to do with my order. Think of all the potential sales they could have gotten out of me had they tried to sell me something else?

In the comic book/nerd/pop culture geek niche there are a lot of hard core fans that would love to throw their money at anything related to comic books and nerdy collectors items. After all it is why events like Comic Con do so well because there are nerd like me that will spend money to go and spend money buying merchandise while we are there.

Given that, why doesn’t Comic Bento who I first found while attending  NY Comic Con in 2016 not use email marketing to sell me more stuff?

 

They could have easily sold me hundreds of dollars of merchandise is they wanted to over the time I have been a subscriber but they didn’t and if I choice to no longer be a subscriber next month then they will lose the chance forever.

If I spend $300 a year with them as subscriber.

I pay $25 a month on that monthly plan.

I am a subscriber for 12 months.

Comic Bento makes gross revenue $300.

They could have easily especially in the niche they serve could have increased my spend with them by at least 50% or more had they offered me something else.

So let’s say that they left $150 on the table because they didn’t use email marketing.

That might not seem like a lot but that is just one subscriber who has been with them 12 months.

But what if it were X more:

10* $150 = $1,500

100 * $150 = $15,000

1000 * $150 = $150,000

10000 * $150 = $1,500,000

However having a subscriber for 12 months is not the norm so let’s do the math for the average time someone stays a subscriber which is 3 months.

Let’s say $37.5 is the average I might have spent had they emailed me other offers over the course of 3 months before I unsubscribed. (Remember this is a comic book company Comic Bento.)

I pay $25 a month on that monthly plan.

I am a subscriber for 3 months.

Comic Bento makes gross revenue $75.

But what if there were x more like me:

10* $37.5= $375

100* $37.5 = $3,750

1000* $37.5= $37,500

10000* $37.5= $375,000

So even if there only 10 paid subscribers like me on Comic Bento’s list that bought from them. They still would have made an extra $375 in gross revenue had they used email marketing before those subscribers cancelled their subscription.

Now in the first example I mentioned that I have been with them over a year but just estimated the amount of money they have left on the table with me being a subscriber for 12 months. ($150) Now if there were just 10 more like myself then they have left at least $1,500 on the table.

Email marketing could have increased the revenue of this company without them worrying about additional cost on PPC traffic. They could have made thousands of dollars very easily with email marketing to their paid list but they didn’t and since I am still a subscriber. I can tell you that Comic Bento is still making the same mistake.

The question is will other subscription box companies continue to leave money on the table or start using email marketing to increase their revenue?

To learn how you can use email marketing to increase the revenue of your company.

Contact: lauren@storybrandstrategist.com

 

Hello my Unfollowed, Depending on how long you been on my email list you may have noticed that I have yet to go into the whole Hero’s Journey thing. This might seem strange to you especially since I have rarely used the term Hero in my emails even the ones that are based on comic books. Right now I am going to tell you why that is so that you don’t get duped into some B.S that a lot of internet marketers are pushing when it comes to using story and The Hero’s Journey. First off the Hero’s Journey that they like to talk about is a lot more complex. They only give you the Hollywood version of it. Which is fine until you realize how many flops on the Big and small screen there have been even though everyone is using the same formula. Two the way I have seen marketers teach it. It is missing some key points which could be critical when it comes to creating over content especially content that sells. Three The gurus and experts on this in the marketing world all want you and force you into fitting everything little thing into this template. That is another reason why  so many experts and influencers sound the same. Sounding the same as every expert in your field will help ensure you go out of business especially when the next big internet crash comes. Story is so much more than the Hero’s Journey and you can use it to build your brand and sell a ton more of your stuff if you learn to do it the right way. Cramming everything you got into this template is not going to help you make more money when the bubble bursts or when your competition get some celebrity/influencer guru endorsements. Besides why stress yourself out trying to do that when I can show you a better easier way to use story in your emails to make them sell? You got a list of people that subscribed for one reason or another and I can help you discover ways of tapping into their problems, joys and curiosities using story selling and help you turn them into buyers. A big claim I know but I got quite a few marketers that have used my ways to make more money in their businesses as well as a few entrepreneurs that were struggling to figure out what to write about to their list until they implemented some of my proven ways. To Learn more about them or to possibly work with me. Join my email list  by signing up below.   Lauren The Story Brand Strategist

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There are other ways to get the same result. I had to figure out my own way of doing it even though it was a pain in the butt and took some time. I discovered a way to create a Fast Cash system that works for me and apparently also worked very well for one of my old clients.

In fact when I applied my Fast Cash system to his business he added a cool 12,453 in extra sales.