Leverage online sales to grow your business.
By Abigail Thorpe
Taking your business online can be a lot more simple and affordable than brick and mortar in many ways, but it’s not magic. You won’t gain customers overnight and drive sales without putting in the effort, and when it comes to making your ecommerce business successful, there are certain things you need to focus on.
We talked about how to transition your business online, now it’s time to focus on how to make your ecommerce business successful once you’re there. It starts at the beginning when you’re building your ecommerce business. Don’t rush it, first impressions can be everything, so make sure the finished “online store” you present to the consumer is something they like. Put the focus on the user—what do they want or need to help them make their purchase online? Finally, make sure you test everything before you go live, nothing takes a launch down faster than a crashed site.
Traffic is key, and you’re going to need a lot of it—both organic and paid. Providing content through a blog is one way to generate organic traffic to your site. Define the customers research journey, and provide content that helps them make their decision, answers questions or provides unique insight they’re looking for. SEO is another way you improve your rankings and bring more traffic to your site. Pay attention to what keywords affect your rankings and target your industry or audience. If you sell through a platform like Amazon, learn how keywords can affect your ranking on that site.
You’ve got to diversify your marketing strategy when it comes to selling online. Organic traffic is essential, but you’ll need some paid as well. Use paid ads to bring customers to your site, and leverage social media. Retargeting ads are a good way to remind shoppers that you still exist. If a potential customer visits your site and then leaves to compare with other products from competitors, you can easily remind them you’re still there with a creative ad specific to the product they were viewing.
Well-timed pop ups giving a benefit or perk can work wonders in converting a viewer to a customer. Time them for when you think they’ll have the most impact on your customer—when they’re viewing a specific product or have been on the site for so long.
Collect customers information whenever possible, and automate your sales and marketing process when you can—like email follow ups, transferring sales data, etc. Automation doesn’t mean you can’t keep your marketing unique and personal, but you don’t want to lose opportunities to reach someone because you don’t have a system in place to deal with the traffic.
Speaking of systems, invest in your platform and product information management system (PIM). You need to be prepared to grow and develop, and having the tools in place that evolve with you is essential to making ecommerce successful.
Ready to take your business to the next level? We’re ready to help! Let our team of experts at Rocket Fish Digital help you navigate the online marketplace.