Setting up an eCommerce store allows you to ply your goods and services to a truly global market, but unlike a brick-and-mortar location, there is no chance of potential customers simply stumbling across your store because they happen to be in your neighborhood.
Online sales are dominated by giants such as eBay and Amazon so no matter how high the quality of your merchandise, the only way you will be able to grow your business is to adopt an effective marketing strategy that drives potential customers to your site. Getting your store online is a great start but read on for a few ideas on how to take your enterprise to the next level.
Offer Incentives
A key strategy for success is to offer additional incentives that help persuade first-time visitors to your site to make a purchase. Such conversions are always the most challenging as a customer may have a low level of trust in your brand or your product. Offering a one-off discount on a first sale or providing a small gift with every first purchase can go a long way towards persuading first-timers to go ahead and take the plunge. As long as the quality of goods or services being offered fully meets the expectations of the customer, they are then far more likely to return to make additional purchases.
Remarketing
It is always far, far easier to make a sale to an existing customer or visitor to your store than it is to attract a new customer from scratch. While some of those visiting your online store may simply be engaged in the digital equivalent of window shopping and have no intention of making a purchase, others will simply have been distracted or interrupted before they could take things any further. Sending out emails or special offers to such individuals can encourage them to return to the site.
One key area of remarketing involves reaching out to customers who place items into their shopping carts but fail to complete the transactions. There can be a number of reasons for this and platforms such as BigCommerce include tools that can help you reach out to these individuals, significantly boosting your sales figures as a result. Furthermore, by working closely with a BigCommerce developer, you can hone your eCommerce store to eliminate many of the most common issues that lead to shopping cart abandonment.
Seeking Out Influencers
The important thing to remember about influencer marketing is that it is the quality of the content that matters most. The top YouTube and Instagram stars reach their lofty positions and gain massive followings because they provide engaging content that their fans are eager to see.
When influencers provide great content that reinforces your brand, it will drive sales. Studies show that returns on influencer marketing are twice that of paid advertising because consumers simply trust the word of other people far more than they do the words of an advertisement.
Picking the right influencers is essential; they must either already be using your product or service or fall within your target demographic. If you simply pay someone with a huge social media following to tell others about your company, their lack of sincerity will shine through, damaging both your image and their own.
