For many eCommerce merchants, their website’s live chat function is one of their primary means of communication with customers. This can be attributed to the fact that most people prefer chat over other means of communication, such as calling or email. With 65% of millennials and Gen X using chat as the main mode of communication, brands that offer this means of communication on their website appear more attractive. As technology advances, “chatbots are now becoming a norm.” In fact, it is estimated that chatbots will be capable of replacing the customer support clerk within a decade. This is attributed to their capability of answering common customer queries and directing customers to relevant web pages for more information.

Although chatbots are designed to complement live staff, understanding the qualities of effective customer services is critical. The following live chat tactics will help eCommerce merchants provide customers with a great online experience. The tips are applicable to both websites using live support staff and those using chatbots to improve customer experience.

 Visibility is Key

One of the most important aspects of live chat is its visibility. If customers can’t immediately see this feature while they are shopping, chances are they won’t search it out. In order to be easily detected, the window should be in the bottom right corner of the page with some sort of bright icon that is easy on the eyes yet readily seen. Even better, reach out to the customer first!

Automate the first message to communicate with the customer before they run into an issue – that way they immediately have a helpful resource at their disposal. Visibility also means that live chat should be available on every page in the same spot. However, make sure you have clearly indicated whether the customer is chatting with a bot or a human.

Respond Quickly

Replying promptly is the most important function an eCommerce site’s live chat can serve. Quick response times showcase a business’s ability to be attentive and professional in handling customer issues. An easy way to ensure that your live chat is speedy is to set up an automated response for initial contact. To ensure that this is followed by a swift follow-up from a real representative, build in push notifications that will notify your customer representative staff whenever a new chat has been initiated. This way, shoppers will be engaged immediately and be attended to as quickly as possible.

The natural language processing (NLP) capability helps in automating the chat processes. Even when your customer service agents are busy elsewhere, the bots ensure that the customer gets the same satisfaction they would when chatting with a real person.

Ask Questions

Understanding exactly what information a shopper is searching for via the live chat feature is the key to properly solving and answering their question. Usually, issues like product finder, offer notification, order status check, and simple customer service queries can be handled by a chatbot. But for customers and questions that require a more personalized service, a human representative will be needed. To get a full scope of the issue, instruct your live chat representatives to ask plenty of detailed, pointed questions at the beginning of the interaction to understand exactly what the issue is. Being thorough at the start of a conversation will help save time for both the representative and the customer later on.

It is always important to be transparent with your clients by letting them know whom they are interacting with in the live chat. Provide a way they can reach a human agent if they do not want to chat with a bot. This could be a button the customer can press to start a conversation with a human agent. When the customer transitions from a bot chat to human chat, it provides closure and builds more trust.

Avoid Robotic Responses

An eCommerce merchant should sound professional, but also like a human being. Sounding too robotic will give the impression that there isn’t a person on the end of the line, which will leave the customer feeling isolated. Even a chatbot should be friendly and have human appeal. Greet the customer warmly as they sign on and consider personalizing it with their name. Ask how they’re doing and how you can help them. Maintain a friendly tone throughout the interaction to keep that personal touch.

Any chatbot must have access to adequate customer data. Remember, a chatbot is as smart as the data you feed it. For more advanced conversation abilities, the chatbot must have access to data about your customers and your brand. Be sure to maintain a tone of voice that properly reflects your brand. If you sell high-tech gadgets and tools, you may be slightly more professional than an eCommerce store selling makeup or jewelry. The more personalized a customer finds the conversation to be, the more satisfied they will be.

Know When to Escalate

A customer will usually seek the help of live support when they cannot get the ‘answers’ they are searching for on your site or from the bot. When they do, the live chat representative should do everything in their power and capability to fix the customer’s issue. However, it is important to know when to escalate to a supervisor, IT professional, or alternative department. Have customer service policies in place that encourage employees to communicate this to the customer and assure them that help is on the way – if you take too long or leave them hanging, they are more likely to abandon their cart or seek out a different merchant altogether.

“Is There Anything Else I Can Help You With?”

A good chatbot will perform all the basic customer service tasks of an e-commerce website. They include collecting customer data, handling online transactions, upselling products, and providing access information. Other tasks include providing user feedback, offering quizzes, and giving personalized recommendations. However, getting more information from the customer is equally important and may require the intervention of a human representative.

 Every time a customer seeks service from a live chat representative, they should confirm that they have solved the customer’s problem. Once this is complete, they should ask, “Is there anything else I can help you with?” The customer may have additional issues to discuss and it should be the live chat representative’s goal to provide a comprehensive customer service experience. Even if the customer doesn’t have additional questions, it highlights the eCommerce merchant’s commitment to superior customer service.

Ask for Feedback

Once the customer confirms they have no other concerns, an eCommerce merchant should present them with a poll or request comments on the interaction. This type of direct request is a great way for an eCommerce site to gain valuable feedback and continue improving their live chat service. The process can be automated using a good chatbot with a conversational user interface. The data collected will be useful in improving customer experience and the overall service provided on your e-commerce website.

For more tips on how to create the optimal live chat experience for online customers, contact our team of experienced eCommerce professionals today.

The Google Ads metric for gauging an ad’s average position was eliminated in September 2019. Average Position was often used to gauge where you ranked for a specific keyword against competitors in the auction. For example, with an average position of 3.1 for a well-performing keyword, it’s simple to judge that there exists an opportunity to increase traffic by improving the keyword’s Ad Rank.

Why Remove Average Position?

Here’s what Google stated about the change: “Average position (Avg. Pos.) will be removed in September 2019. The percentages of top and absolute top impressions provide a clearer view of where your ads appear on search pages. You can use these new metrics to optimize your ad position.”

Google has continued to shift away from the old school manual cost per click bidding to automated bidding strategies. With Google’s machine learning capability, paired with the knowledge of user behavior, Google claims to be able to be more efficient than humans running manual bids. That makes sense. 

Additionally, the machine learning focuses on an individual’s propensity to buy rather than humans manually optimizing based on keywords.

Automated campaigns like Target CPA and Target ROAS negate the validity of average position and even cost-per-click. These machine learning models are built to hit a self-determined target. For example, set a $50 cost per conversion for a certain campaign or ad group if that is profitable for you and Google will attempt to maximize the amount of conversions within that threshold. Average position is irrelevant in this scenario and in the new world of automation.

How to Measure Opportunity Now

This shift to automation creates the need to re-think how the data is analyzed, including the metrics necessary to properly evaluate the data. While Average Position has been a great secondary metric for evaluating opportunity and performance, Google has decided to replace it with the following new metrics.

1. Search Absolute Top Impression Share – “Search absolute top impression share” is the percentage of your Search ad impressions that are shown in the most prominent Search position. Absolute top impression share = absolute top impressions / total eligible top impressions
2. Search Top Impression Share – Search top impression share (IS) is the impressions you’ve received in the top location on the search result page divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive in the top location. Use this metric to bid on the top page location. The top location is anywhere ads appear above the organic search results. Eligibility is based on your current ads’ targeting settings, approval statuses, bids, and quality.
3. Search Exact Match Impression Share – “Search exact match impression share (IS)” is the exact match impressions you’ve received divided by the estimated number of exact match impressions you were eligible to receive on the Search Network. Exact match impressions are those that matched your keywords exactly, or were close variants of your keyword.
4. Search Lost Absolute Top Impression Share (rank) – Search lost absolute top impression share (rank) estimates how often your ad was not the very first ad above the organic search results due to poor Ad Rank. Ad Rank determines your ad position relative to other ads and whether your ad is able to show at all. It is calculated using your bid, ad and website quality, context of the search, Ad Rank thresholds, and the expected impact of extensions and other ad formats.
5. Search Lost Top Impression Share (rank) – Search lost top impression share (rank) estimates how often your ad didn’t show anywhere above the organic search results due to poor Ad Rank. Ad rank determines your ad position relative to other ads and whether your ad is able to show at all. It’s calculated using your bid, ad and website quality, context of the search, Ad Rank thresholds, and the expected impact of extensions and other ad formats.
6. Search Lost Impression Share (rank) – “Search lost impression share (rank)” estimates how often your ad didn’t show on the Search Network due to poor Ad Rank. Ad Rank determines your ad position and whether your ad is able to show at all. It’s calculated using your bid, ad and website quality, context of the search, Ad Rank Thresholds, and the expected impact of extensions and other ad formats. Impression share data is updated daily.

Got all that?

Let’s go through an example.

Taking a look at this data, the top keyword (which is purposefully not shown), in row two, has 847 clicks but less than 10 % of the absolute top impression share. Along with a top impression share of ~71%, this signifies that there is definitely substantial room to increase traffic. With a high cost per conversion though, you may not want to increase Ad Rank on that keyword. 

For the second keyword, in row three, it has 690 clicks and almost a 96% absolute top impression share. While the cost per conversion is great at ~$30, there isn’t much room to increase traffic.

So Why the Skepticism of Automation?

Digital advertising is necessary in most eCommerce strategies. Commercial queries can drive valuable traffic to your business, but the efficiency of ad spend is still  a major player when it comes to profitability. 

Among the rules that Google has changed recently is loosening the definition of match types so that “Exact Match” doesn’t actually mean “exact” anymore. Google allows close variations of keywords to show and there’s no true “exact” keywords you’re able to target. This allows Google to increase ad revenue. 

When creating a new campaign, merchants find it difficult not to select a non-automated bidding strategy and are forced to click a “not recommended” link to get to a manual strategy. They also have an army of account reps helping to steer account owners to automation. 

Google forces Shopping Links to open in new tabs to encourage multiple clicks on each search results page. This allows Google to increase ad revenue. 

It’s well-documented that a large percentage of Google’s revenue is derived from advertising dollars, and they’re also not doing poorly in that area according to a Statista report.

The changes that have been made, along with experience with automation will certainly give merchants pause, wondering if Google has their best interest at heart.

Simply put, do you feel comfortable handing the wheel over to Google?

Automation Isn’t as Easy as it Sounds

Automated bidding strategies are not that simple. Selecting the correct bidding strategy takes some planning and it’s imperative to also have an understanding the weaknesses of the strategy. Will the automation react fast enough to capture sale periods – especially those like Black Friday or Cyber Monday? 

Automated bidding strategies do alleviate some of the manual work when setup properly, however, the machine learning technology is only as good as the data it’s fed.

Let Us Help

We offer free Digital Advertising audits!

We’re passionate about digital advertising and would love the opportunity to help your team dominate Q4! Our years of experience in Google/Bing, search ads, shopping ads, and display will provide a competitive advantage. 

Contact Us. 

Digital advertising during the 4th quarter can provide some of the most rewarding returns of the whole year, especially for eCommerce companies. With rising conversion rates and increased revenue opportunity, the competition within the digital advertising space also heats up. 

The main portion of the sale season including Black Friday through Cyber Week has become one long sale for many companies. Recent trends have shown that more people are enjoying Thanksgiving again with a decline in Black Friday brick-n-mortar stores, however, they’re more-likely shopping from the couch on a phone. 

Each of the renowned shopping days increased YoY in 2018, with Cyber Monday becoming the biggest revenue eCommerce day in history. Amazon even mentioned, without providing data, that Cyber Monday beat out their Prime Day.

The stakes are rising annually and preparing to earn traffic to your website is just as valuable as converting the visitors.

Winning the 4th quarter takes a complete team effort. Any small competitive advantage over the competition is enhanced during this time of the year. We’ve compiled a list of our Top 10 digital advertising tips for maximizing your revenue in Q4. Let’s get to it!

#1 Synced Holiday-Specific Ad Copy

There are plenty of clicks to be earned simply by having more-relevant ad copy than your competition. At minimum, the Headline 2 and the Description 1 & 2 within Google Ads should echo the messaging of the site. 

For example, during a “Black Friday Starts Now” sale period, your ads should include that in the copy! Matching the messaging that will be placed in site-wide messages and banners will create a seamless transition for searchers.

This is an excellent strategy especially if the advertising budget is smaller than the competition. Focusing on click-through rate (CTR) with hyper-focused and timely ad copy will earn your company more traffic and revenue.

#3 Understand Bid Strategy Weaknesses & Overcome

If your account is taking advantage of some of the machine-learning automation bid strategies, you’ll want to understand how they can be a disadvantage in Q4. Will the AI learn quickly enough to adjust bids with your competition? Processes need to be in-place to adjust campaign bid strategies so that competitors don’t earn your revenue.

#4 Establish Must-Win Campaigns

Some segments of the business contribute more to the bottom line than others. Ensure the digital marketing team understands which categories or products or search terms need to be monitored heavily.

In large accounts, many changes can be made in bulk, however specific attention needs to be spent in a must-win scenario. Account for this extra time when planning out the tasks needed to win Q4.

#5 Evaluate & Increase Bid Mods

Not all traffic is the same and your conversion rates will vary depending on where/who the traffic is coming from. Bid modifiers allow you to pick out the most important visitors and bid on them differently. Conversely, you can bid down on those who have shown a lower propensity to purchase.

Bid modifiers include device, gender, location, time of day, and more. Additionally, you can select specific audiences to place bid modifications on like shoppers who abandon cart, visitors within the last 3 days, or visitors that have spent double the average time on site.

Your competition is preparing for Q4 too, so make sure your most valuable audiences bid mods are increased. Paying attention to the trends can also play a key role here. You can leave a large amount of revenue on the table if your digital team and website aren’t ready for mobile.

#6 Countdown Ads

Running countdown ads are a great way to dynamically create urgency for searchers and beat out competitors for clicks. Within Google Ads (and Bing), you’re able to set an end date for ads which fits perfectly into our prior example of the Q4 holiday periods.

The Headline 1 could say “Black Friday Shoe Sale Ends in 8 Hours” or something similar. The countdown ad will dynamically change the ad text from weeks to days to hours to minutes. Imagine someone search for your category at 11:50PM and your ad reads “Black Friday Shoes Sale Ends in 10 Minutes.” That sets an urgent mindset before the user even visits your site, likely increasing conversion rate.

#7 Understand the Enemy

Your competitors have a huge impact on your Q4 earnings, especially when conversion rates are peaking. Monitor your competitor’s strategy and set-up a plan for how your team will react in an emergency scenario.

If your team doesn’t have the advantage of years of experience, you can begin by using existing data. Using last year’s data, start with the Auction Insights tool within Google Ads. At varying levels of depth (search terms, ad groups, campaigns) within the account, you’ll be able to understand how competitors bid up or down during specific times –  assuming your account is structured properly to evaluate and retrieve this good data.

Once you have good notes on the competition, it’s a good idea to divvy out responsibilities to team members for campaigns or search terms to monitor during key days like Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

#8 Holiday Extensions

#9 Start Late Q3 or Sooner

Account sizes vary greatly, so you’ll want to timeline the tasks out and give yourself ample time to complete the work before Q4 begins. It’s rare that marketing plans aren’t changed on the fly in small-to-medium companies and with the bulk of the work done, it will be easier to adapt to changes.

#10 Monitor Progress

The digital marketing team should always be monitoring the business’ progress and how the competition is responding. Eat healthy and take breaks throughout the day on what will likely be late nights for the team.