…and your online sales are frightful!

Let it Boom, Let it Boom, Let it Boom!

We'd love to help you get through the winter with more green in your pocket once spring rolls around. Increase your cold weather sales by employing all of our guidelines for marketing, SEO, and in-store advertising, and you'll be having a very Happy Holidays, indeed.

Blog posts on Instant Gift Certificates

Help topics (from your BoomTime account) on Link Placement

Posted in Business, Marketing, Gift Certificates • Comment »

Because we are BoomTime, you might wonder why the name was chosen, or more specifically what that "Boom" might mean for your online potential.

In short, it can and will draw in new customers that might have never before purchased from your company.  They could be coming from a web search, finally finding your site after our SEO-friendly pages have been picked up by the major search engine companies.  Or, they could have seen a sign in your store advertising your Instant Gift Certificate capability and happened to remember it on the eve of a friend's birthday.

There are many ways your customers can find you online, and adding BoomTime's capabilities to your website just ups the odds significantly.

Read our posts on marketing and you'll find many more ideas on how to spread the good word far and wide. Have a particular success story to share, such as printing flyers or running radio ads to promote your new Instant Gift Certificate capabilities? We'd love to hear it!

Posted in Marketing, Gift Certificates • Comment »

We're fortunate to have an artist on our team, an artist who's also incredibly techno-savvy — what a great combination! When Joyce gets on a roll and we can't stop her — she's a design machine in the best possible sense!

We recommend periodically logging into your BoomTime account and mixing up the GC designs that you make available to your online visitors. Simply log in, then go to Setup, GC Designs to choose what you'd like your visitors to see. Just Hide those you don't wish to appear in your GC design library. When you're done picking and choosing, then perform the Update Designs Task and you're all set!

Examples of new designs:

      

Posted in Gift Certificates, General • Comment »

Having a big mouth has its advantages, particularly when it comes to promoting your cool Instant Gift Certificates!

So, use your gift of gab in constructive ways. Train whomever answers your phones to mention that you offer a great, time-saving way to buy from you–Instant Gift Certificates–right on your website.

And be sure to talk about Instant Gift Certificates, as well as including your business URL, in your voicemail. You should be pleasantly surprised at how many people will embrace the ability to buy from your website. We'll also bet you'll notice a dramatic increase in sales when your place of business is closed (which happens to be when the rest of the world likes to hop on the 'net and surf for stuff).

Technology is a beautiful thing. Be sure to take advantage of how much time you can save, and how much more convenient you can make it for your customers to buy what you sell using Instant Gift Certificates. And spread the word–literally!

Happy Sales, BoomTimers!

Posted in Gift Certificates • Comment »

Increasing your online sales has never been easier! By choosing to sell Instant Gift Certificates on your website you're acknowledging the power of the Internet, and the ever-increasing trend to buy online vs hassle with traffic, deal with long lines and get stressed where it's possible to avoid it.

Now what? You've got the link up on your website. Your logo automatically appears on every BoomTime Instant Gift Certificate you sell, effectively extending your brand online. You're poised for online revenue greatness, but there's still more you can do.

Position matters. Where did you place your Instant Gift Certificates link? It should be above the fold, ie easily visible, ideally on every page of your website, in the same place so people don't have to work to find it.

Frequency matters. Repeat yourself. Seriously, your Instant Gift Certificates link needs to show up on every page of your site, in the same place. Oh wait, I'm repeating myself.

Use your navigation well. Be sure you have an Instant Gift Certificates link in your main nav. Businesses that do tend to sell more. And make sure your navigation is consistent on every page of your website.

Feature your Instant Gift Certificates! Go ahead and dedicate a small paragraph to your cool Instant Gift Certificates. A heading like "New! Instant Gift Certificates" can work well. Text like, "We have the perfect last-minute gift! Design, preview and immediately print or email an Instant Gift Certificate" will do the trick. Note: Avoid graphics with this mention. People have been trained to ignore them. Turns out if a person is besieged with flashy graphics and banners for long enough, they simply tune them out over time.

Embrace the Boom! You're a BoomTimer now. You're unique, and you're offering a great gift solution for your online shoppers. Always include the word "Instant" when you're describing your offerings. Lots of businesses offer gift certificates, only savvy ones know enough to offer up "Instant Gift Certificates."

Link directly.Make the link from your Instant Gift Certificates links in your site go directly to your Instant Gift Certificates page.

Promote printing, too! Emailing Instant Gift Certificates is convenient and FAST. (Good for the last-minute buyers.) Guess what? 75% of people actually print them out at time of purchase–they are beautiful, after all!–so be sure you tell them they can.

Role play with your website. Close your eyes and pretend that you've never seen your website before. Play the role of first-time visitor and see if you can figure out how to buy an Instant Gift Certificate. It should be very straightforward and nearly effortless. If it's not, simple changes can do the trick!

Now go on back to your website and tweak it. It'll make a difference.

Posted in Website Design, Gift Certificates, General • Comment »