Stefano Fracchiolla and Maria Lafuente Soria of Serendipity Marketing On The Top 5 Ways To Market, Advertise & Promote An Ecommerce Business Today

An Interview With Eric Netsch

Design and set up the eCommerce in a way that’s easily accessible from any device and that provides a great user experience. As mentioned before, mobiles are taking over and this step is needed to make sure the website ranks higher on Google and drives a higher number of consumers who, once landed on the web pages, will be incentivized to purchase by the easy-to-use layout. Under this perspective, it’s important to make eCommerce responsive to any device. There are multiple phones and it’s important to make sure the web pages are responsive to any type.

As a part of our series called “The Top 5 Ways To Market, Advertise & Promote An Ecommerce Business Today”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Stefano Fracchiolla and Maria Lafuente Soria.

Stefano and Maria are the Founders and joint CEOs at Serendipity Marketing. They created an innovative methodology, named the Ultimate Triumph System (UTS©) which stands at the core of how their full-service digital marketing agency works. The UTS© allows them to empower marketing strategies with psychology science by uncovering and mapping with precision any business target audience’s driving emotions and use this data to create the perfect marketing experience for higher results. They are also committed to teaching entrepreneurs and marketers how to use their methodology in digital platforms through programs, courses, and eBooks with their UT Academy.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you’re super busy. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Maria: “My love for marketing has started very early. I have always been an extremely active person and I found marketing as the perfect fit for me to express my creativity and love for action. Each project we work on is a different world and a new challenge. There is nothing that’s the same. And this is the perfect environment for me. So, after school, I attended the university in marketing and digital marketing, designing a clear career path which also took me to leave Zaragoza, the city in Spain where I come from, and move to London where I grew my experience. At this point, I knew I wanted to have something mine in the industry I love. Business has always been part of my life as my parents own a small company in Spain, and I always felt motivated to have my own business one day. And this motivation is what pushed me starting Serendipity Marketing with Stefano”

Stefano: “My career path has been much more diversified. My journey to own a digital marketing agency starts from very far away. I started my working career as a physiotherapist and from there I opened up to the world of psychology for pain management. And the more I was studying and applying the psychology of pain, I fell in love with the general psychology and analysis of human behaviour in pathology and normal life. I then attended the National College of Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy in London and various courses of non-verbal communication, getting more and more intrigued by the topics. So much that I realized that the psychological analysis of human behaviour and persuasive communication were my real passion. And this is what took me to begin a new generation digital marketing agency with Maria”

We want to give businesses of any size access to a digital marketing able to drive results despite the high competition that nowadays is in almost any industry. A digital marketing able to deeply empathize with the target audience and create relationships customers-brand based on value and trust. A digital marketing able to create the perfect experience for the best emotional impact on users for higher engagement, trust, and conversions.

Can you share the most exciting story that has happened to you since you began at your company?

The most exciting thing that happened to us since we started our company has actually happened straight after the pandemic. You know, having an innovative concept that aims to change the rules of the game is very exciting and challenging at the same time. And even though, we are super passionate about it, starting from zero is not very easy, especially when you’re bringing something extremely new to the table.

So that, when you see people who have been in business for years who are ready to invest a large amount of money in marketing coming to you and wanting to discuss how our UTS© methodology could help them, that was extremely exciting.

So, we basically found ourselves sat on the table with businesspeople who covered managing director roles in international and multimillion dollar companies who wanted to scale their new startup in a moment when not many businesses wanted to invest in marketing.

That was actually the first time we had the chance to discuss our services and method with people with a certain business experience and budget to invest. And it came in a moment when we were not expecting it at all.

Now, that first time we did not manage to close the deal in the end, but it helped us gain the right experience and confidence to close other important deals after that moment.

What’s the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson did you learn from that?

So, at the beginning of our journey, we were, of course, leveraging social media to raise brand awareness and be known. And as we were just starting off, it was us creating and writing each post.

Now, we both are not English and, when you have so many things to do on the table, it’s easier to make spelling mistakes when writing a caption or a text. It can happen when writing in your own language, so it’s even easier to do it when you do it in a language that isn’t your first one.

We still remember that time that we wrote something like “beat off” instead of “beat up” as after posting, we started receiving a larger number of comments below the post than usual. And of course, it was plenty of English people who were correcting us for the mistake.

Funny enough, that larger number of interactions took our post to get more viral and outreach more people. We were, of course, replying to each comment in a natural way, placing the situation as a funny mistake to all laugh about.

And thanks to this, believe it or not, we even got new followers and enquiries for our services.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

The most exciting project we are currently working on, apart from our clients’, is our UT Academy. We are creating a platform rich in content to help entrepreneurs and marketers to access highly performing digital marketing and to our methodology for higher results.

We already have a few eBooks there and we are now planning to launch programs, courses, and more solutions to help businesses go beyond what isn’t working anymore — as everyone else is doing it — and truly grow their business.

We see that there are so many courses and programs that ask for more money than the actual value they offer, and people often find themselves investing money on something that has a low success rate.

So, we want to give them access to something that can truly help them stand out and create a stable brand, using proven strategies and techniques that we use daily with our agency and consulting clients.

And this is very exciting because we know there are a lot of people seeking for this kind of help who have the dream to grow a profitable business. And we want to create that environment — our UT Academy — where they are not going to feel alone and can find the right resources for their business to thrive.

You’re successful business leaders. What are three traits about yourself that you feel helped fuel your success? Can you share a story or example for each?

We definitely would begin with perseveration. When building a business, things often don’t exactly go the way they were planned. And for example, we found ourselves in situations where either we could wait and stay stuck, for instance, during the pandemic where there was a low number of businesses that wanted to invest in marketing and we were a brand-new company, or find a different solution, moving forward in a different direction. And of course, as it’s said in Italy “the one who stops gets lost”, and we always try to focus on the solution of the problem rather than on the problem itself. So, perseveration is a big one to keep moving forward and find the right way to success.

Another trait, which, for us, is the fuel to persevere along the way, is passion. We are extremely passionate about what we do and what we offer, as we truly believe and know it’s a great solution for most businesses. You have to be passionate about what you do to reach success as it is what sparks enthusiasm in any situation you may be going through.

And also, our care for others. We really care that people who work with us reach the success they are aiming for. They are not just numbers or cashflow. For us, they are partners of which the outcome and care are our primary focus. And even for those who don’t work with us, we care so much they get great results that we share as much value as possible through our content on our platforms. And we believe that this is always a key for business success.

Awesome, thanks so much for sharing that. I want to shift gears and talk about eCommerce. In my work, I focus on improving shopper engagement, so I’m very passionate about this topic. As you know, mobile has taken center stage in terms of how people are engaging and transacting with eCommerce stores — leading a lot of stores to lean into mobile-first shopping experiences like mobile apps. Can you help articulate a few reasons why an eCommerce business should consider creating their own mobile app?

Google studies are showing that most of the searches on Google are made through mobile devices. That’s because the phones are very handy and easy to reach. That’s why mobile devices are going to take over, and if we think about that, mobile apps are the best way to simplify user experience on mobiles.

And this is why, eCommerce stores should take advantage of this trend and create their own app.

Apps are going to incentivize users to come to the eCommerce more often, and, as they can give the best user-friendly experience, they will encourage users to engage and purchase more often.

The death of the cookie is going to happen. By 2023 marketers will no longer be able to track consumers online using third-party cookies. How do you think that will impact how businesses acquire and re-target customers? What can they do to pivot?

They should be finding a way to collect users’ contact details when they land on their web pages. This way, if someone leaves the website without purchasing, they can use emails or messages to retarget them.

So, they should be focusing on website and eCommerce optimization in a way that they can collect users’ contact details in exchange for something extremely valuable. They could use exit pop-ups or banners along with the page. It is important that what gets offered in exchange for their contact details is very valuable to induce them to get it.

This way, even if someone leaves the website, the business can still retarget them using different channels. Also, depending on the landing page where they signed up, the business can still know where they entered the database, and they can retarget them with personalized emails related to the product they saw but didn’t get.

The cost of paid ads is at an all-time high. What are some alternative strategies to reach your target consumers that don’t involve paying a third party like Facebook and Instagram?

Building an organic audience around the brand through sharing value-first content is the best strategy to avoid ads. Ecommerce stores should have a great content marketing strategy across social media and SEO to organically outreach users with content that contains valuable information for them. And it’s exactly the value that will make their content viral and get to more people even without ads, as when people like and interact with a piece of content, the algorithm of the platform where it got shared on will push it more and make it viral. If there is no interaction, it means that it isn’t interesting and will reach fewer people. So, the very first step is to create very valuable content. Then, after users come to the pages, there has to be a continuation with the content offered to feed their interest and leverage the brand as a go-to authority they can rely on. This way, the eCommerce store can create loyal fans who follow the brand for their values as they know they can trust it.

This way, the third stage of their content strategy will be to offer their products or services to the community in a way that isn’t just promotional but that show their offer in a way that revolves around users’ problem and needs.

This strategy takes some time but has the best conversion and retention rates in the long run.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and success, what are your “ Top 5 Ways To Market, Advertise & Promote An Ecommerce Business Today?” Please share a story or an example for each.

Sure. At Serendipity Marketing, we do work with various eCommerce stores, and we help them market their products online through different digital marketing strategies. So, these are the 5 ways to market, advertise, and promote an eCommerce business today.

1. The very first thing to consider is to design and set up the eCommerce in a way that’s easily accessible from any device and that provides a great user experience. As mentioned before, mobiles are taking over and this step is needed to make sure the website ranks higher on Google and drives a higher number of consumers who, once landed on the web pages, will be incentivized to purchase by the easy-to-use layout. Under this perspective, it’s important to make eCommerce responsive to any device. There are multiple phones and it’s important to make sure the web pages are responsive to any type.

2. An important aspect that not many eCommerce stores bear in mind is not to overwhelm users with tons of products altogether. When an eCommerce presents a lot of products altogether, it’s difficult for users to find what they were looking for and to understand which one is the best solution for them. It’s just overwhelming and this is a factor that would make most of them leave. Too many choices lead to none. A key point is to create a platform where users can have a great experience, feel calm, and love the features as they easily understand the best product for them. We actually use neuromarketing techniques to drive people’s attention to specific parts of the layout and text to guide them to easily find the solution they were looking for. And this is shown to increase any eCommerce conversion rate.

3. Following this, it’s all about driving qualified traffic to the store. Not just traffic, but users who are truly interested in what’s listed in the eCommerce. For this, there are various ways a brand can get great results. How to pick the best one? The best strategy to follow to market an eCommerce store depends on the type of products the business sells and on where its target audience is receptive the most.

4. A great strategy is to include a video on the landing page that shows the product 360° and how to use it. This way, users won’t just see pictures and won’t just need to read all the copy. It will be much easier for them to see what they are about to buy and how they can use it to fix their problems and fulfil their needs. And this visual way to present the product is shown to increase the conversion rate. Also, to support the video, it’s good to include reviews that will make people see that others are already benefiting from the product which will generate in them the idea it is a reliable one.

5. Last but not least, consider retargeting with a video that shows what they have been missing out on. Use a video that shows how others are using the product they didn’t purchase and push its benefits. It’s all about showing them that they seriously want to reconsider their previous choice of not purchasing by showing them that the product is actually what they were looking for. This strategy makes it easier for them to understand and it’s shown to have a greater conversion rate than retargeting ads with just a picture, a graphic, or a person speaking. Show it off and leverage its benefits.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

We think it would be “Get your true happiness as purpose in life”. We live in a moment of time where we all often value more what others think of us or expect from us rather than what truly would make us happy. It’s like we basically keep our happiness in a corner. So, if we find the strength to free ourselves from these mental barriers and pursue our true happiness, we can all achieve a truly fulfilling life full of joy and where we are free to be who we really are and want to be.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Maria can be followed on her LinkedIn profile.

Stefano can also be followed on his LinkedIn profile.

We also have a blog on our company website, Serendipity Marketing.

I want to thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise with us. I wish you continued success!

About The Interviewer. Eric Netsch is the co-founder and CEO of Tapcart, a codeless mobile app builder that helps Shopify’s fastest-growing brands to create an owned marketing channel so that they can reach, engage, convert, and retain their audience without ever relying on another entity for access. Eric has been featured in TechCrunch, Business Insider, The Verge, etc. To launch your mobile app, visit Tapcart.com.