What do you need to know about marketing for an ecommerce business? Here are a few best practices that can help jumpstart yourefforts.
Test social media ads.
With 1.18 billion daily active users, Facebook has a huge audience that can be tapped. Considertargetingyouraudiencewithsocialmediapostsandvideosandexperimenttosee what works best and drives sales andrevenue.
Collect email addresses and stay in touch.
Recent data shows that three-quarters of companies agree that email marketing offers “excellent” to “good” ROI. By collecting email addresses on-site and asking customers to opt-in to future communications from you, you can give visitors a reason to keep coming back to your ecommerce site again and again via offers, sales, VIP discounts, and more.
Use personalization to tailor offers/messaging.
Personalization is more important than ever for online shoppers. In fact, research shows 74% of online consumers get frustrated with websites when offers, ads, and promotions appear that have nothing to do with their interests. Make sure you’re leveraging personalized product suggestions, personalizing your email marketing efforts, and generally striving to make each customer feel like you’re speaking only to him orher.
Gather feedback via surveys.
The best way to keepa finger on the pulse of what your audience wants is to ask them. Leverage online surveys to gather feedback on everything from product to your marketingefforts to customer service interactions.
How to Increase Ecommerce Sales
Ecommerce sales in the U.S. alone gross $130 billion per quarter, which is nearly 10 percent of all retail sales (that number is increasing globally as well).That’s a lot of people looking for online products and services. If you’re building an ecommerce business, you need to devise a strategy to increase sales and get a piece of that pie. You won’t have an ecommerce business without customers. So, consider this one of the most important sections in this article. Let’s cover a few ways that you can increase your ecommerce sales.
Hook prospects in the consideration stage
If you only try to reach prospective buyers in their decision stage, you’re too late. Conversely, if you provide relevant content in the awareness stage and fail to follow-up,you risk them forgetting about you as they move along the buyer’s journey. It’s also important to remember that people go through buying cycles and can move back and forth between stages before they commit to a product or service. Once you hook a prospect with your content keep them engaged and send them content that speaks to their present stage. Your goal should be to get on their short-list of potential purchases.
Use paid targeting to outrank your competitors
There’s a reason why sites like GoogleShopping are so lucrative — they work. Search engines return billions of results daily, and many of those results are for products and services just like yours. The problem is the competition. When done right, paid advertising can position your ecommerce store in front of the right audience and ahead of yourcompetition.
Get (or give) some information before they leave yoursite
Not everyone who visits your ecommerce store is ready to buy — engage them anyway. Think about reasons why someone would visit and bounce off a page (maybe they’re considering options or they find your product too expensive or they want to make a more informed decision). Whatever the reason, your job is to provide them with something that will keep you top of mind as they continue their search. Ideally, you would gather some lead information but at a minimum provide them something useful that can assist them as they go about their search.
Invest in re-engaging shopping cart abandoners
Shopping cart abandonment is inevitable but not irrevocable. Sometimes users just need a little nudge to get back to their cart either through remarketing or a simple email reminder. Before you reach out though, make sure to address some of the common reasons why prospects abandon their shopping carts in the firstplace.
Remember to integrate social
Don’t underestimate the power of social media when it comes to online sales. Instagram reports that 60% of people find products on social, which makes sense with the integration of shoppable content. Meet your potential customers where they are and remove friction from the buying process by leading them seamlessly to a sale.
Elements for More Trust and Higher Conversion Rates
Trust is the decisive factor when it comes to whether or not customers buy from your online shop. In order to achieve more conversions, it’s important for your online store to come across as trustworthy rightaway.
Untrustworthy websites cannot be successful in the long run. After all, very few online shoppers are particularly willing to take risks and order something without knowing for certain that the goods will actually arrive as described.
A lack of trustworthiness is cited by 21% of internet users as the reason for a purchase cancellation (source: trbo, statista 2016).
The more certain your customers are that your business is reliable, the more likely they areto actually make a purchase.
However, trust is always subjective… So how do you suggest to your customers that they can rely on you?
How can trust be created in your shop?
There are several elements that can create trust. The more things you do, the more your trustworthiness will generally increase.
1. Availability & customerservice
In contrast to buying things in a physical shop, online transactions usually take place without human support.
If you sell “complicated” or particularly unique products that need explanations, you should make sure that your customers can ask questions and get advice.
You should therefore offer shoppers multiple contact options and work hard to respond in a timely manner. Listing telephone and email contact details is an absolute must. A live chat feature can also be veryuseful.
Trust arises fromthe fact that interactions with realpeople are possible and are taken careofquickly.
2. Design &spelling
A professional appearance shows that you, as a retailer, take your shop seriously. People tend to buy more from a well-designed shop than a messy, poorly designed one.
Of course, your shop design should always match your industry, your brand, and your products. However, in general, a low-key layout tends to pay off. Avoid too many bright colours.
Also,with regard to grammar and spelling, it is worthwhile having new texts proofread. Small typos are generally not a huge problem, but if the mistakes add up, it’s not a “good look” and confidence in your shop will suffer.
3. Data security through SSLencryption
Depending on the payment method, an encrypted connection must be established when payment information is transmitted. The SSL encryption must also be visible to the buyer (e.g. through the lock-symbol in the browser bar).
4. Trustmark
Trustmarks show that the shop has been comprehensively tested by a third-party provider. If the shop offers protection from losses, potential customers essentially take on very little risk when completing the transaction.
5. Reviews &reputation
Having a good reputation and strong brand recognition among the relevant target group can generate trust directly. After all, your reputation has been built up through good practices in the past, so in the eyes of theconsumer, it is fair to expect this to continue in the future.
Customer reviews are the backbone of your reputation because they are true social proof.If your reviewsmake your shop come across as consistent and reliable, potential shoppers will have little reason to doubt your trustworthiness. Therefore, they will be more likely to complete their purchase withyou.
How to Choose the Best Ecommerce Software
When searching for the best ecommerce platform and software to meet your needs, there are many factors to consider. Look for:
- Themes and customization abilities: You should be able to customize ready-made themes that allow you to personalize and add company branding.
- Domain name customization: Make sure you can get a custom domain name and URL (so you don’t have to include the platform’s name in your website URL).
- Expert, 24/7 support: Take the time to explore the platform’s service in detail. If an emergency crops up down the road, you want to be sure you’ll have fast, reliable support at a moment’s notice.
- Flexible payment options: Customers want to pay in a variety of ways today — from credit cards to digital wallets and beyond. Look for an ecommerce software solution that is flexible enough to support many different secure payment options.
- Multiple language abilities: Your customers may be coming from all over the world, so you need to be able to speak their language. It’s a good idea to work with a tool that supports many different languages.
Examples of Inspiring Ecommerce Stores
Not sure what your ecommerce store should look like? Here are a few examples of inspiring stores to help get your creative wheels turning.
Tattly
Because Tattly offers a product that’s highly visual in nature, they’ve opted for a theme that’s photo-centric. This lets new visitors quickly get acquainted with the product offering and provides a few different paths for deeper product exploration, too.
Graydon Skincare
Graydon Skincare uses a website layout with a large rotating header image that helps communicate a feeling around the brand and product. The images feature different products sold by the brand, and the simple top navigation makes it easy for customers to quickly find what they’re looking for.
18Waits
18Waits also uses large rotating photos on the home page of their ecommerce store — but they sometimes integrate them with promotional offers. This helps shoppers visualize themselves wearing the product, while also enticing them to check out a special sale going on, too. Overall, the theme they’ve used is fairly minimal, which puts all the focus on the photography.