If you weren't at the E-commerce SFIMA event on Thursday night with Hunter Boyle MarketingExperiments) in Miami, then you really missed out on a great night of education, networking, and a very special announcement. As I drove home from the event passing the illuminated Miami skyline and bridges, and their brilliant reflection on water, it reaffirmed how lucky we all are to be living and thriving in this South Florida paradise. Or, perhaps I was just in a great mood after spending a night with some of my closest friends (and new friends!) at SFIMA.
OK now getting back to the three things you missed out on... I will get to the special announcement first since I know the suspense is killing you.
Special announcement
BGT Partners, recently named "Interactive Marketer of the Year," by the South Florida Business Journal, has generously agreed to donate their talents to redesign and build our new site. BGT is extremely proud to be working with SFIMA and shares our goal of raising the profile of South Florida in the interactive marketing world. The first step to achieving that mission is to build a top-notch website.
Since this is a collaborative process, BGT would be happy to have other agencies submit their ideas and participate in the design of the new site. We will be having weekly calls and meetings, so raise your hand if you want to join us. The SFIMA organization is all about the members; it's your website and we want you to be proud of it. We will be giving you updates on the design and progress in the months to come both at the events, and on the blog. So please reach out to me at President@sfima.com and let me know what you would like to see on the site, and if you would like to help. Again, SFIMA is all about the members - it's all about you!
Ecommerce optimization tips
The e-commerce optimization tips from Hunter Boyle at Thursday's event were stellar. There was so much great content, I wanted to provide a few take-always, which are some last-minute website testing ideas:
- Make discounts, free shipping, coupons impossible to miss
- Add Holiday delivery cutoff countdown or calendar
- Use a prominent Store locator, customer service #, live chat, hours
- Make the transaction forms and process steps as easy as possible (minimize friction)
- Utilize gift finder or selection tools (don't make the consumer think too much!)
- Go to www.MarketingExperiments.com for more info on this topic. Thanks for the great presentation Hunter!
Awesome networking
And, of course, the awesome networking with South Florida's finest marketers is always a staple at SFIMA events. At this event, I was able to meet and spend time with some great marketers like Diego and Leah from City Furniture, Bill from Velocitude, Joey from Wrecking Ball Media, and Loretta Levy is always at the events and it's always great to see her. What a pleasure it was to see Octavio Ramirez, who was a former intern who once worked for me, and now has his MBA and is out networking on the job hunt. And of course Jose Lacal of OpenPHI.com was there and this was his first SFIMA meeting. I was wowed by all of the people that came down from Boca and further north. I hope to see all of you at all our monthly events.
All the best,
Taigh White
President, SFIMA
