We recently spoke with Chloe Thomas, an ecommerce marketing specialist and author of the recent global best seller “eCommerce Marketing” book. Discover what inspires her, the challenges she feels marketers face and her tips on what you should be focusing on in 2020. Meet Chloe…
Please introduce yourself
I’m Chloe Thomas, founder author and podcast host at eCommerce MasterPlan.
Please tell us about your business
I’ve been in the eCommerce industry for over 15 years and eCommerce MasterPlan is all about sharing the knowledge I’ve picked up with retailers to help them find their path to growth.
To do that we run the eCommerce MasterPlan podcast, releasing an interview with a different retailer every week that provides inspiration to 1,000s of retailers around the world.
We occasionally run virtual summits and online courses on specific topics, and also have 5 books on eCommerce that help 1,000s more. The latest book came out in November and is already a best seller in the USA, UK and Australia.
I also speak at many events every year in the UK and overseas, and chair conference sessions and panels at both Internet Retailing Conference and Internet Retailing Expo every year.
What have been the main challenges facing marketers in 2019?
Working out what they should focus on.
Competition in the industry keep increasing, consumers expect ever more from the businesses they shop with, and the technology barriers have reduced massively in recent years.
That leaves many marketers floundering to work out what to do. They have a lot of pressure to bring the results, and so many new things they *could* do that they end up not doing anything, or sticking to the same old same old despite deteriorating results.
What in marketing or business inspired you this year?
Two things.
At the start of the year, we hosted a virtual conference about subscription eCommerce. Having the opportunity to spend a few weeks immersed in subscription-world was fascinating, as whilst it is of course very similar there are some areas that ‘normal’ eCommerce completely ignores. That really got my brain whirring, especially around churn and CLV reporting and tracking.
Secondly, I’m answering these questions just 1 week after my most recent book launch. During the 2 week launch period, I tested a lot of marketing activity and by far the most effective was the LinkedIn posting – in the past Twitter has always been the best for book launches, but this time the LinkedIn engagement was amazing. So I’m currently working out how to replicate that performance in other areas of the business.
What should marketers be focussing on in 2020?
Optimisation.
With increasing competition online, ever savvier customers, and the continuing spending reduction inducing political uncertainty we’ve going to have to work even harder to drive the sales.
That means you’ve got to keep improving your marketing channels, your product selection, your website performance.
Look at the stats every week, optimise every day, test new ideas – and optimise them too!
Who are your marketing heroes?
I don’t really have heroes, so this is a hard one to answer.
I have always found what Ryan Deiss does at Digital Marketer fascinating, started so simply, and has grown so huge.
I think what Trustpilot have done in turning their own logo into a symbol of trust is so clever – you can’t get on a tube train, or open a magazine without seeing their logo on at least one advert. A game-changer.
From a retailer perspective that’s an even harder question.
If you could give a tip to aspiring marketers what would that be?
Get into psychology and neuromarketing. The age of the copywriter has (thankfully) returned, so you need to know how to write copy and craft offers that make people tick.
If I ever go back to uni it will be to turn my amateur obsession with what makes people do things into a professional one. (or creative writing!).
You are sent to a desert island for 12 months – You can take 3 business books, 3 records and 1 luxury item – what would they be?
Books:
– 12 Week Year by Moran and Lennington
– Essentialism by Greg McKeown
– 80:20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall
Records:
– New Radicals – Maybe You’ve been Brainwashed Too
– Small Faces – Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake
– Air – Moon Safari
Luxury items:
– Eye mask – you’ve got to get a good night’s sleep!
What do you think of Pure360’s new visual identity?
It’s striking and bold. I love a clean line and bold colours so I’m bought in!
Thank you Chloe for being one of our Marketing Heroes, you can follow Chloe using the details below:
Twitter: @chloethomasecom
LinkedIn: /
Instagram @ecommasterplan
To purchase Chloe’s most recent book “eCommerce Marketing – How to get traffic that BUYS to your website” – please click here