Ecommerce advertising is the exercise of using top-of-funnel visitors to transform into income and customers. And there are masses of methods to head approximately it.
From that specialize in natural visitors and search engine optimization to the usage of Facebook or Google commercials to pressure-focused visitors, you could blend and suit paid techniques with non-paid techniques all so that it will determine which blend converts the maximum people.
But now no longer the advertising approach is even static. As advertising methods and market algorithms evolve, so too should your approach with a purpose to win the very best go back on advert spend – in addition, to go back on running prices related to non-paid increase techniques like search engine optimization.
You may also have as soon as heard: “If you construct it, they may come.”
It`s a wonderful quote, from a wonderful movie.
Unfortunately, with regards to e-trade advertising, this belief is absolutely false. When you construct it, they don`t always come.
In a continuously converting and more and more aggressive environment, you want to make a greater attempt to develop your online income.
For many businesses, that is the largest cause why sales desires aren`t met.
With US e-trade sales slated to hit $4.nine trillion in 2023, you don`t need to overlook the boat.
On one hand, truly constructing a modern, feature-rich, and user-pleasant internet site may also look like a frightening challenge
But even doing handiest that, you`re the handiest midway there.
Unless you`re pounding the pavement to construct cognizance, your e-trade internet site will exist in a vacuum.
And that`s now no longer suitable for anybody – the enterprise owner, the employees, and the folks that need to shop for your merchandise.
In order to efficiently develop an e-trade enterprise – whether or not or now no longer you've got got a retail presence – you want a nicely-concept-out e-trade advertising plan to pressure logo cognizance and boom income. And there`s no manner round it.
But don`t worry, we`re right here to assist. Within this blog, we`re masking the subsequent topics:
Creating and Executing an Ecommerce Marketing Plan.
Marketing Channels, Tactics & Tools to Consider.
Building a Marketing Team: In-House vs Agency.
Based on this article, you`ll have the statistics you want to hopefully construct an e-trade advertising plan that may efficiently scale your enterprise and attain your desires.
Remember, there`s no “magic bullet” with regards to constructing logo cognizance and using e-trade income.
The concepts we`ve mentioned the need to be described as “exceptional practices” however your team`s capacity to assume significantly and get innovative can be the “unique sauce” your logo wishes to expedite income increase.
Creating and Executing an Ecommerce Marketing Plan
“A failure to the plot is a plan to fail.”
Another legitimate quote. This time, with the aid of using Benjamin Franklin.
To be clear, there`s no scarcity of literature around “a way to broaden an advertising plan.”
In fact, that subject matter maintains many authors, teachers, and costly public audio systems employed. And justifiably so.
Many attempted and actual concepts continue to be applicable today, however with the ongoing evolution of e-trade, this isn`t the time to get complacent.
Without a nicely-concept-out plan of attack, the probabilities of engaging in your advertising desires can be narrow to none.
And without the know-how of the e-trade advertising landscape, you`re at an excessive disadvantage.
We`ve implemented the foundational factors of crafting an advertising plan, injected a few time-financial savings hints, and implemented our backlog of e-trade-unique recommendations to in the end create this 12-step plan this is best for constructing your online store.
With the statistics provided, you could hopefully create an eCommerce advertising plan from scratch with the aid of using yourself, together along with your team, or along with a greater skilled enterprise partner. Here are a few time-saving hints and recommendations earlier than you start.
1. Seek out mentors and recommendations.
Find corporations or people who've already constructed and scaled a successful e-trade enterprise, preferably in an equal industry. Then, ask for his or her recommendation.
How did they get started?
What advertising channels produced the largest ROI withinside the quick-term?
Did they use an enterprise? If so, which enterprise?
What era did they use for music data?
What SaaS merchandise has been maximum useful and powerful?
There are lots of online businesses wherein you could ask those questions. BigCommerce`s very own network organization is the handiest one.
2. When possible, lease experts.
Quite truly, the breadth of information and revel in that a skilled marketer can carry in your enterprise can`t be understated.
The effort and time you`ll spend studying approximately and slapping collectively virtual advertising campaigns may be spent on greater significant work.
If you`re a startup, remember hiring a freelancer to assist with greater nuanced components of your enterprise like branding, paid advertisement, or internet site maintenance.
If you`re a longtime enterprise, remember hiring a skilled enterprise.
They`ll carry new energy, sparkling perspective, and abilities that supplement your in-residence capabilities.
3. Be sincere with yourself.
Without first-class merchandise, the ideal funding, and a successful team, a course to fulfillment does NOT exist. Of course, there are constantly exceptions to the rule.
But don`t financial institutions on one social influencer`s Instagram put up to make amends for those shortcomings. It simply doesn`t appear that manner.
There`s no disgrace in beginning small and DIY-ing your virtual advertising withinside the quick-term. But it`s crucial to set sensible expectancies and description a roadmap for increase.
How to Build an Ecommerce Marketing Plan
As you`re laying the foundation in your e-trade future, it`s crucial to undergo those sporting events even as writing your marketing strategy to make sure that your techniques and approach are nicely concept out and could by skip the check of time.
It can`t be overstated: those are the conditions to developing a powerful advertising plan and constructing a successful enterprise.
1. Executive summary.
Now that you`ve accrued substantial recommendations from informed mentors, the large photograph review will come into awareness.
By writing an Executive Summary, you`ll be taking the primary steps to craft your eCommerce advertising plan.
2. Goals & targets.
Make your desires and targets VERY clean and unique.
Once you start to execute, there`s no disgrace in amending your desires in the event that they grew to become out to be too low or too high.
Eventually, your number one awareness needs to be developing sensible, practicable desires. And then, layering in “stretch desires” to absolutely excite the team.
That being said, make certain to encompass unique desires and metrics, such as:
Increase income with the aid of using X% throughout the sluggish season.
Increase AOV with the aid of using X% on Black Friday & Cyber Monday.
Increase e-mail advertising conversion prices with the aid of using X%.
3. Mission Statement and Value Proposition.
What is the purpose of this company? What are you doing? what are you doing You (or a company executive) should be able to answer these basic questions. Not all companies need a philanthropic element in their business (which would be nice), but they should have a clear mission and value proposition. 4. Target customers, personas, and markets. Know your audience. Without a clear understanding of who your audience is, the attributes, and where they are defined, you'll be running a wasted, underperforming campaign targeting people who don't qualify and have low conversion rates. Make sure you know the following:
age group. Gender classification. geographic location. purchasing power.
5. Situation Analysis.
So, do a thorough assessment of your company's status quo, competition, and overall marketing plan. Do not place stones. A better understanding of the current situation will lead to better decision-making and ultimately better outcomes.
6. Pricing and positioning strategies.
Make sure your pricing and positioning provide real value to your target audience. Forcing your target audience to use a product they think is too expensive is a losing proposition, especially when price comparisons are very easy today. So do your research!
Of course, there are opportunities for testing and improvement throughout the lifecycle of a product, but doing a little more work ahead of time will put you in a better position in the long run.
7. Deployment and execution plan.
Even if you start small, you need a clear understanding of your deployment and fulfillment requirements as they grow. Whether you're packing and shipping items yourself, overseeing a small team or using a third-party store, you need to know if your fulfillment process can meet the demands of your upcoming marketing push. After you create a plan, you should spend a significant amount of time adjusting, improving, and evolving the plan over time. Ecommerce Fulfillment Tools
Huazhou Headquarters. return retriever. ship station. after-sales. printed. facility. 71 pounds Global Shop X. traffic. inventory source. Shipping is easy. Brand.com. seatpo. Sunrise Wholesale. Wholesale 2b. eProduct Plug. Dropshipping AliExpress on CedCommerce. Find additional shipping and fulfillment tools for your store. Want more information like this one? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter and receive the latest cutting-edge content right in your inbox, from blogs and resource articles to podcast episodes, webinars, and more. Executing your e-commerce marketing plan
By now you should have a very clear idea of the nuances that define your business. For small businesses, it is time to start laying the groundwork for future growth, and for more established companies, it is time to accelerate the growth trajectory.
1. Define your sales and lead generation strategy.
You can be creative here. And unfortunately, the universal answer ends here. The number of ways to promote your business seems endless, and that's a good thing!
An exhaustive list of digital marketing buzzwords might be confusing you, but we'll highlight some new strategies worth considering, as well as strategies and tools that have proven to be effective. In a visual case, imagine a graphical sales funnel showing a customer's journey from awareness to interest to action. Now, imagine that each step in this process contains notes about the specific marketing strategy you will use to get leads through that funnel. At the top of the funnel, you'll see brand awareness strategies that don't lead to instant conversions, such as organic social media postings or programmatic display ads. And at the bottom, you'll see ads from the Google Search Network, retargeting ads from Instagram, and direct email communications. Marketers should consider the main objectives of any campaign strategy they use and how they fit into their funnel. But don't worry. The strategies and tactics in the next section will surely yield positive results.
2. Get technical and reporting software.
Before you do any serious marketing, you should definitely ask yourself the following questions:
Are the techniques you use to track the effectiveness of your current marketing efforts appropriate? Can I use it to see if the KPI I'm trying to improve is actually improving? Will this help my team accurately determine the cost-effectiveness of our actions? If the answer is no, you should consider making changes before implementing a new e-commerce marketing strategy. And if your answer is yes, great! But I also recommend checking again. Here are some great tools to consider.
Google Data Studio (Free + Paid Integration). Lucky Orange. As mentioned earlier, the number of marketing channels continues to grow, and the tools you use to track this information should suffice. But don't worry. There are tools. Even if you're on a tight budget, there are free resources that can help.
3. Start with a conversion.
Lead generation and sales funnel strategies have specific funnel strategies designed to help customers across the finish line. We recommend deploying these campaigns first to increase sales and create positive momentum. Then, once your team is familiar with the initial results, continue executing your overall e-commerce marketing strategy (more on this type of strategy below).
4. Check the strategy.
Allocate a portion of your e-commerce marketing budget to testing new strategies. After all, you never know what works and what doesn't until you try. Don't waste your money blindly. However, depending on your budget, running a few simple tests in a small market can give you the ammunition you need to justify your budget increase, validate previous recommendations, and fully unlock it. Newmarket opportunities.
5. Modify and extend your e-commerce marketing strategy.
Now it's getting really fun! You have seen positive momentum and are ready to fan the spark. At this point, you will have a better understanding of what works, what needs improvement, and what opportunities still exist. And I promise you will never exhaust your potential. So, revise and revise your initial strategy. Once you've demonstrated a positive ROI, it's time to increase your budget and scale!
It also allows you to be more creative. Some strategies to consider:
Joint Ventures and Partnerships. Complementary brands have succeeded through partnerships. You can jointly create content that showcases both bands on each other's email lists. Or combine a specially selected Christmas gift set from several brands. The possibilities are endless, and when brands come together, both brands win. Increase your AOV. The goal was to increase sales. Now increase your average order amount. Level up your discount code to encourage bigger purchases or offer expedited shipping on orders 50% above your current AOV. Referrals - Give your current customers the opportunity to refer friends and earn rewards. This is a win-win. They become an army of brand advocates while browsing product catalogs for how to redeem new discount codes. Ecommerce Marketing Channels, Tactics, and Tools to Consider
1. PayPerClick (PPC) advertising.
Paid Search Ads.
Paid search ads appear at the top of search engine results and do not contain images. Simply put, Google serves text ads to users based on their search terms. So, this is a great strategy, especially for potential customers in the market. Just think... If you're looking for a "button-down shirt without an iron", you're most likely buying this item on the market. You have identified your personal needs and are looking for the best option. Therefore, contextual advertising can deliver high conversion rates and should be included in your overall strategy. media advertising. Display ads, also known as banner ads, can be found on all popular websites, apps, and mobile games. Unlike search ads, display ads tend to follow a user based on their past search history. This is called "retargeting". I'll explain this later. Display ads may also appear to users depending on the topic of the article or the website the user is viewing. So, when users read articles about popular yoga studios in their area, they're more likely to see display ads for the nearest yoga studio. Display ads can be useful for generating conversions when used to increase brand awareness and retarget customers, but overall click-through rates are significantly lower than Search Network ads. More importantly, the average conversion rate for all industries is 0.77% for display ads compared to 3.75% for search ads. (Statistics via Wordstream)
Shopping ads (Shopping campaigns) -
Google Merchant Center: The Google Shopping by Sales & Orders app automatically creates a product data feed in your account using your existing BigCommerce product information. Google Ads. Amazon ads. Bing advertisement.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Over the past 20 years, search engine optimization has evolved for the better. In the past, SEO was like a snake oil seller. They used dishonest tactics and tricks to boost website rankings. On the other hand, SEO now focuses more on following best practices and gaining rankings than "system work".
In other words, SEO is a growth marketing strategy that cannot be overlooked. In fact, 70-80% of Google users focus only on organic search results. But don't worry. There are a number of useful resources, such as SEMrush and MOZ, for checking your site's SEO status and tracking improvements over time. Also, BigCommerce apps like FavSEO make it easy to audit your website, track its ranking, and improve it over time. Tools to consider:
Sam Rush. Moz. Big Commerce App.
3. Content Marketing.
Content marketing is a kind of a unicorn in the e-commerce space. When you have a thoroughly tested and comprehensive content marketing plan in place, almost every other marketing channel you use will be more successful at the same time. That's because content marketing is the best way to get your product out to potential customers. Blog posts, infographics, and videos can help you reach more customers on the web. This is called inbound marketing when buyers visit, and it costs significantly less than outbound marketing to find buyers in person. If your product is environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art, or simply innovative, consider writing a few blog posts outlining the product details. Aside from being academic for absolutely everyone who visits your internet site, those weblog posts will assist you to get natural visitors from applicable keywords.
4. Influencer advertising.
Influencer advertising is simple.
As purchasers are uncovered to increasingly more commercials, manufacturers are incorporating unique techniques to attain an attraction to clients.
Therefore, an emblem will align with an “influencer” – aka, any individual who has a huge following and credibility inside a sure niche.
Through this partnership, each event will co-create content material that`s meant to construct recognition and pressure income.
And for the reason that influencer already has the eye and believe in their following, those paid product endorsements sense much less intrusive than general commercials.
Thus, they`re a treasured device in an entrepreneur's toolkit.
Influencer advertising is maximum normally visible throughout social media, YouTube channels, and famous blogs. Fashionistas who proportion their fashion courses on Instagram and aggressive game enthusiasts who flow recreation critiques on YouTube or Twitch are producing measurable outcomes whilst requested to subtly sell an emblem.
5. Social media advertising.
Social media is (and could remain) a hastily evolving panorama of networks and structures that usually extrude the manner humans have to interact with manufacturers online.
As entrepreneurs, we're tasked with know-how great practices, and imposing strategic campaigns that have interaction ability clients, create emblem advocates, and sooner or later, gas the lowest line.
Luckily, famous social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram had been usually rolled out new functions and equipment to assist manufacturers efficaciously attaining their goal audience.
For example, with Facebook`s new Dynamic Ads feature, an emblem can add its whole product catalog to Facebook.
Then, every product could be routinely proven to involve clients with updated pricing and availability, which is a fantastic device for e-trade entrepreneurs.
According to Pinterest, their customers spend 50% greater on purchases than the common social media user, and 20% greater than folks that bought after clicking on a seek advert.
Like I defined with PPC marketing and marketing, social media advertising has its very own set of nuances and jargon which can on occasion get intertwined.
For the functions of this weblog post, and withinside the call of crafting a legitimate e-trade advertising plan, we`ll be cognizant of what could have the most important effect on your emblem.
Here`s what's vital to bear in mind whilst crafting your social media advertising marketing campaign:
Social Media Advertising –
Most of them function in a comparable way to Google`s PPC commercials; you create an advertisement, set your budget, and pay for each click (or some of the impressions) the advert receives.
Of course, there`s greater to it.
Each social community gives a huge sort of advert type, tailor-made to fit your marketing and marketing method and provide virtual entrepreneurs the possibility to get creative.
To prevent a few time, the subsequent social networks have been validated to be the maximum widely-followed and sensible for e-trade advertising:
- Facebook Ads.
- Instagram Ads.
- Twitter Ads.
- Pinterest Ads.
- LinkedIn Ads.
- Snapchat Ads.
Social Commerce – As mentioned, social networks are continuously attempting to find new methods to trap manufacturers, and greater importantly, advertisers to their networks.
Therefore, networks like Facebook and Instagram (in particular) have created (fairly) seamless ecosystems that permit clients to find out your merchandise, and greater importantly, buy your merchandise without navigating far from the community.
This simplifies the course to buy, and subsequently, will increase conversion prices.
Therefore, making sure your e-trade product catalog is synced with Facebook and Instagram will permit greater clients to discover your merchandise and growth the effectiveness of your social marketing and marketing campaigns.
The Facebook Ad app through Sales & Orders takes the present product facts to your BigCommerce store, configures it, and publishes it out as a well-suited Catalog for Facebook Product Ads to receive a commission for Facebook commercials up and walking quickly.
Organic Social Content – Before social networks have been money-making behemoths, they have been boards to have interaction with clients and foster emblem advocacy.
Of course, that hasn`t disappeared entirely.
But to a sure extent, manufacturers had been nudged closer to the paid marketing and marketing course to provide great outcomes.
That being said, don`t overlook approximately natural social content material.
It performs a vital position whilst constructing emblem recognition, and at a minimum, is vital to hold robust SEO.
Make certain to couple your natural social content material with new social trade functions, like tagging your merchandise in Facebook and Instagram posts and creating “buyable” Pinterest posts.
In that manner, you`ll be persevering with constructing the emblem, whilst making it clean for able clients to discover and buy your merchandise.
6. Email advertising.
When crafting a complete e-trade advertising plan, electronic mail can play a completely vital position.
On one hand, it is able to now no longer get hold of the eye of newer, trendier avenues for advertising your e-trade business, however, whilst performed right, electronic mail can produce a constantly excessive go back on investment.
That being said, don`t count on to “batch and blast” your manner too excessive conversion prices and improved order values.
Taking a greater strategic, considerate technique to electronic mail will sooner or later yield very fantastic outcomes.
At the quiet of the day, clients are inclined to study emails that pique their private interests.
So, ensure your emails are contextual and engaging. Don`t ship a live performance price tag advertising for a display in Los Angeles in your whole electronic mail listing.
That could be worrying for absolutely everyone outdoor of Southern California.
As a rule of thumb, attempt to section your electronic mail listing primarily based totally on beyond buying history.
In that manner, you may ship emails that resonate with their private tastes.
Plus, with the modern-day electronic mail automation functions, you don`t even want to press “ship.”
As you get your begin with electronic mail advertising, e-newsletter campaigns are a clean and powerful marketing campaign, to begin with.
Nestled among promotions of your merchandise, e-newsletter campaigns comprise in reality thrilling content material.
An e-newsletter layout makes your emails stick out from the ordinary income campaigns, and is a fantastic manner to construct goodwill with new clients.
Aside from e-newsletter campaigns, at a naked minimum you ought to include the subsequent techniques:
Abandoned Carts.
Up-Sells and Cross-Sells.
Promotional Offers.
Customer Loyalty and Re-Engagement.
7. Affiliate advertising.
Affiliate advertising is the technique of an e-trade service provider paying a fee to an outside internet site for any income generated from their referral visitors.
The income is tracked through associate links, which may be applied through the use of diverse associate programs.
One notable aspect approximately associates advertising and marketing for e-trade traders is which you simplest pay after a sale occurs.
Merchants additionally get to select their personal fee rates, with is a percent of the sale charge commonly starting from five to 30%. It`s additionally very ROI positive.
Once you issue withinside the associate fee and gross margin, you could experience a go back on advert spend (ROAS) of 10:1.
8. Local Marketing
Local advertising and marketing – additionally recognized as “location-primarily based totally advertising and marketing” and “community advertising and marketing” – is the system of optimizing your internet site and online marketing and marketing to assist pressure foot visitors and cognizance in nearby regions.
If you`re a brick-and-mortar keep or emblem this is trying to make circulate online, it`s crucial to now no longer lose the prevailing in-individual clients which you already have.
In addition, when you have a storefront or nearby presence, there are some techniques you could use to maintain developing that footprint.
Optimize your web page with nearby key phrases
Make positive you positioned applicable key phrases approximately the city you`re in, in addition to any bordering cities or regions.
Develop specialized touchdown pages approximately your city, create product collections that champion nearby corporations or trends, or maybe make nearby occasion campaigns with neighboring corporations.
Even as corporations are constantly transferring an increasing number of online, nearby advertising and marketing nevertheless has an effect on the masses of selections that consumers make.
If a person is attempting to find a product online, applicable nearby stores will display up in seek effects.
Hiring an Ecommerce Marketing Agency vs. In-House Team
As an employer outlines its ability boom strategy, the inevitable query arises, “must we rent a corporation or construct an in-residence crew?”
And as you could imagine, there isn`t one accurate answer. But rather, it`s a query of need, circumstances, and fit.
Can a corporation boost up your boom trajectory, at the same time as retaining prices down? Yes!
Can an in-residence crew produce comparable effects AND choose up donuts on occasion? Yes, please!
Depending on wherein you fall, both alternatives should be paintings properly, however, there are numerous elements to don't forget earlier than making this decision.
Questions to don't forget that may manual your thinking:
What are my number one advertising and marketing desires? Are they targeted sufficient for an in-residence worker to control and execute on?
How an awful lot of cash are we able to allocate toward both routes?
Can we (and must we) rent sufficient full-time personnel to healthy what a corporation can provide in talents and information?
Agency Pros & Cons
Hiring a skilled corporation may be an extraordinary desire for any employer.
Oftentimes, virtual advertising and marketing companies can provide a huge set of offerings accomplished with the aid of using exceedingly specialized, skilled professionals.
Not to mention, they may be an awful lot much less steeply-priced than full-time personnel.
But client beware, now no longer all companies are created equal. So, do your homework.
Pros
Highly professional professionals.
Offer the broader set of offerings frequently had to produce effects.
Process and tested music file of turning in effects.
Much much less steeply-priced than constructing an in-residence crew with a similar degree of information.
Contractually required to fulfill closing dates and offer a predetermined degree of service.
Quick and easy to scale up efforts because the employer grows.
Cons
Not as reachable as full-time personnel.
Not as deeply entrenched withinside the emblem.
Not capable of helping with duties outdoor the predetermined scope of paintings.
In-House Pros & Cons
There`s something energizing approximately hiring an in-residence crew, rolling up your sleeves, and attending to paintings.
You`re all on this together, and also you all own deep expertise of the employer`s modern-day ache factors and final vision.
That being said, hiring an in-residence crew with similar talents to a corporation could price an awful lot, MUCH extra while you don't forget salaries, benefits, and onboarding prices.
Not to mention, the time it takes to rent and teach personnel can cause ignored opportunities, relying on the situation.
Pros
Deeply acquainted with the emblem and industry.
Very reachable for impromptu meetings, duties, etc.
Can make a contribution to a healthful crew mentality (in the event that they`re an awesome fit).
Cons
Typically, extra steeply-priced than a corporation.
Employees can provide 1 or 2 number one advertising and marketing talents, and usually can`t healthy a corporation`s degree of information.
In-residence hires don`t usually devote sources for ongoing training, education, and system improvement – as an awesome corporation could.
Difficult and time-ingesting to hearthplace personnel in the event that they fall quick of expectations.
Using an Agency Managed with the aid of using Your In-House Team
By maximum accounts, that is a totally not unusual place arrangement – except you`re withinside the very early degrees of advertising and marketing your business.
In theory, this feature may be pleasant of each world, and in exercise that CAN be the case whilst all events are aligned.
As you could imagine, whilst your employer grows, your advertising and marketing desires grow.
The degree of information and technical sophistication wished with the aid of using all events grows as properly.
Therefore, whilst an in-residence crew that inherently knows the emblem can paintings with a corporation that brings a wealth of enjoying AND the capacity to execute, you've got got the makings of a totally sturdy crew.
Pros
Can be pleasant of each world.
Cons
Potentially steeply-priced.
Can motive friction if groups aren`t aligned.
Executive Summary
Crafting a properly thought-out e-trade advertising and marketing plan might also additionally appear daunting.
But then again, the wealth of techniques and channels that may assist pressure on-line income is enormous (and persevering with to grow).
While you will be tempted to head off to the races, intentionality is fundamental while you first start growing an e-trade advertising and marketing strategy.
Make positive you've got deep expertise of your product and the call for to your product and don`t be afraid to make assumptions, as long as you take a look at them.
In a sense, e-trade entrepreneurs sense like children in a sweet keep, seeking to determine which new flavors to attempt today.
So, so long as you`re prepared and detail-oriented, it`s tough to head wrong.
After analyzing this complete listing of techniques, tools, and sources, you`ll be properly in your manner of developing an actual effect and getting actual revenue.
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