Quantitative Staffing for eCommerce Seasonality
As the seasons change, so do the needs of eCommerce businesses. Many of our clients have seasonal peaks and valleys in their website traffic and overall online revenue. The Granular team has managed paid search during “holiday hell week” at Best Buy and Target, so we know a little something about eCommerce seasonality. To match demand, good PPC specialists will also control PPC spend and online marketing budgets to align with the seasonality of the business. As the world of eCommerce becomes more and more data driven, there are hidden corners of opportunity that your standard PPC agency may miss. By understanding the full digital ecosystem, we can help uncover some of those opportunities in your business.
“Of course we’re experts at digital marketing, but we also have a background and passion about eCommerce operations and overall business efficiency.”
With increased website traffic comes a parallel increase in customer support, whether it be phone, email or chat support. At Granular we take the time to learn about our clients and their business operations. We dig deep into the customer support process and the methods used to drive and support a sale. Of course we’re experts at digital marketing, but we also have a background and passion about eCommerce operations and overall business efficiency.
On this particular Monday, after a good amount of Milwaukee roasted coffee, we dug into a very seasonal client’s data. As we increase ad spend and drive more sales, we also tend to overwhelm their CSR (customer service rep) staff. Our client told us this morning that the phones have been “extra hot” over the past week , so we immediately dug into the stats we can control; email, phone calls from ads and the website, and chats.
Analytics Beyond Website Visits:
- Emails: tracked with Google Analytics Custom Events
- Phone Calls: tracked with Google AdWords phone tracking script
- Chats: tracked with the native chat client and also tied into Google Analytics
We set our client up to track all points of contact to their business. When you’re paying for visits to your website, the number one thing to do is make sure that every click, phone call and contact form submission is tracked. Without proper analytics, you’re driving blind and potentially wasting a lot of marketing dollars.
After digging in and analyzing our customer’s data, we were able to guide them on making the tough decision of hiring another CSR. Timing is extremely important when you’re adding resources to a company. By analyzing our customer’s eCommerce activity, beyond the normal PPC day-to-day activities, we were able to make a data driven decision of when to hire the additional resource.
The graph below shows how we were able to track and pinpoint when their current staff were overwhelmed. By showing this to the client, we were able to help them conclude that now was the time to add additional support to their CSR staff. With an influx of missed website chats (and an overflowing phone cue), we came to the conclusion that an extra body was needed on their CSR team.
Data showing how the season is beginning to overwhelm their current CSR staff.
Digital marketing agencies vary greatly in quality. Some PPC agencies execute tactically and simply generate reports on a monthly basis, with no added value. At Granular, we pride ourselves on adding a layer of value that few others can offer. Because of our wide understanding of the digital and eCommerce landscape – as well as the deep technical know-how to execute at a world-class level, we take our clients to the next level of performance. —
