Top 3 tips for SMBs through 2012

Kristina: What are your top 3 tips for SMBs through the end of 2012?

Phillip Klien, Chief Innovation Officer and Head of US Operations, Predicta:
1. Don't neglect your website and put all your efforts toward social media and other marketing channels. Your website is still where 90% of your customers go first when trying to learn about your business.

2. If you aren't using website personalization tools, start now. It will enable you capitalize on endless untapped opportunities by catering to your customers where they are most -- online. A good place to start is selecting one major group of customers and working on creating a more engaging experience specifically for them.

3. Get more acquainted with the key metrics for your online presence. Start by accessing your web analytics software and going straight to the traffic sources reports - this will tell you how people get to know you online.

Kristina: Once the calendar rolls around, what trends do you expect to see in ecommerce and mobile?

Phillip: In ecommerce, I believe that we will see a lot of sales techniques from the physical, real world moving into the online experience. Instead of the product recommendations we are accustomed to seeing, we will be exposed to persuasive techniques that imitate interactions with a live salesperson. With mobile in 2013, I think a big trend will be marketing to the people who are accessing the internet for the first time on their smartphone and/or tablet. This is a great opportunity to engage an entirely new demographic.

You can read part one of my chat with Phillip and SiteApps here.

Tags: ecommerce tips, ecommerce trends, Predicta, SiteApps