Once upon a time, salespeople would contact customers and tell them they needed product X in their life, and if they didn't have this product they'd be missing out and life would be incomplete. However times have changed!
Sales no longer control the flow of information in the buying process - instead the customer has more control. If a customer has an interest in a certain product or service they will more than likely hop on Google for speedy answers to their questions. In many ways, the middle man has been axed from the equation - but what does this mean for ecommerce businesses?
Essentially this shift in power has levelled the playing field for both marketers and salespeople. Marketing teams now play a huge role in guiding ideal customers through the sales pipeline - this is especially true for ecommerce businesses. Inbound Marketing is a relatively new framework which focuses on attracting the attention of your ideal customers (even before they are ready to actually make a purchase) via content creation such as social media, blogs, emails and pay-per-click. Carry on reading for some top tips on how boost your ecommerce sales!
Content marketing is a massively influential part of encouraging online sales. Without high quality content your entire business will cave in on itself like a house of cards blowing in the wind. Your content needs to look interesting, crisp and professional otherwise your customers will lose interest very quickly and go elsewhere. All content from your business such as your website, your products / services, your social media, your emails and your offers should satisfy a customer's 'pain point'. A pain point is the reason they are interested in your company.
In today's fiercely competitive market your content needs to shine if your business stands any chance of attracting new clients. Things to consider include:
In spite of the fact email has been around for over 20 years it's still one of the most effective ways of guiding customers through the sales pipeline. This is because the vast majority of people have access to email; plus email is something most people check every day without fail. Due to the sheer volume of emails sent everyday it's extremely easy to have your messages lost in the dark depths of email inboxes. Follow these pointers below to prevent this from happening:
In essence pay-per-click (also referred to as Google AdWords campaigns) allow your business to target specific keywords that you want your website to be flagged for in the different search engines. For example, if your business sells high quality video cameras online you would target keywords like 'professional photography' or '1080p camera equipment.'
Some business owners make the mistake of thinking Google AdWords is just a waste of money or that it's not necessary to generate new sales online, however they couldn't be more wrong. While it's true Google AdWords does carry a cost, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Google AdWords significantly boosts the chances of your ecommerce website being shown in the Google search results - which will increase the number of customers exposed to your company.
For further tips and tricks on ecommerce business we recommend checking out the following articles:
With countless marketing strategies and different advice out there it can be hard to pinpoint the best strategy for your particular niche. It can also seem like there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to achieve everything you need to do. For this reason we recommend contacting the JDR Group for a detailed review of your current marketing efforts. Our team of experts can help you pinpoint your areas of weakness and give you excellent advice on how to improve for the future.