Prepare properly for marketing
In the world of online business, we are facing more and more competition and it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate. How to increase your online sales in this times? we have already mentioned How to grow your business online?
There are so many ways how you can increase your sales in eCommerce, in a series of articles we will address them more specifically. We divided them to this three parts:
- Use marketing in the right way
- Let your website to speak for you
- Sales boost by using eCommerce tools properly
If you want to be successful it is very important to focus on every part of these. In this article we are going to look closer to the first part which is focused on improvements that you can use in marketing your eCommerce.
Who am I and where am I going?
SWOT analysis
For good marketing, it is first and foremost important to identify your strengths and weaknesses with SWOT analysis. It will give you an overview of how you differ from the competition, what you have to focus on and also what opportunities you can use in the field of your marketing, also with regard to the threats you may face.
Good marketing is also based on a well-developed marketing strategy, which should be based on defining your target group to which you want to target your marketing.
B2B a B2C
At first, you have to determine in which market you want to trade, than you will develop specific strategies and procedures from it. You can use the B2B and B2C model. These are two essential marketing strategies that should play an important role in your digital marketing. B2B – business-to-business is focused more on trade between companies, while B2C – business-to-consumer is focused on the relationship between the company and the final customer.
With regard to the target group, it is then necessary to adapt your marketing communication and procedures according to which market your marketing is oriented to. In the following points, you can see a comparison of the mentioned marketing strategies.
B2B – business to business
- Customer decisions are rather logical,
- focus on product properties,
- prefer more specific, in-depth information,
- focus on saved time, money, resources and their return.
B2C – business to customer
- Customer decisions are based on emotions,
- focus on the benefits of the products as the product helps them,
- prefer simpler information,
- return on money and resources is not as important for them as the quality and simplicity of the product or service.
Survey your clients and find out:
- what your customers are interested in
- at what age are they
- how you might interest them
Goal
Create the aim you want to achieve, making sure that it is S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based.
For example “Increase sales by 15% within three months using appropriate marketing strategies.” You have defined how much you want to increase your sales specifically, you can measure whether you have met the aim, it is possible to achieve it, you know how you will proceed to the aim and when you should meet it.
Marketing of your services
Have you ever made a purchase in an e-shop the first time you have run into it? Most likely not. In order to reach your customer and increase online sales, it takes a long way to present your brand. Plan marketing based on the SEE-THINK-DO-CARE model.
SEE- The customer has not yet encountered your brand and therefore it is important at this stage to get to his attention so that he can choose your site in his purchasing decision.
THINK- The customer decides where to buy or with whom he will cooperate. He already knows about your brand and that’s why you are among his choices.
DO- The customer will contact you or purchase from you, and this is that time when it is necessary not to forget the last phase of this model.
CARE- Maintain relationships and contact with your customers to retain them. You can use communication on social networks, the newsletter, or personalize your offer.
There are several factors important for the customer to choose you
- The quality of your website or e-shop
If you want to present your products and services via a website or an e-shop, the pages must be clear, correctly categorized and intuitive for the customer, while they should not put any obstacles in the purchase, for example such as pop-ups or excessive number of ads. For example, a blog can be interesting for a customer and it can increase his visit to your site too. We will focus on websites as an essential part of increasing sales in a specific article another time, but an excellent choice for an optimized page is to have a so-called “accessible website”, which you can read more in article called “An accessible website is suitable for everyone“
- Your products or services
Correct descriptions of products and services with specific information are also important for the quality of the website, thanks to which you will get a better position in search engines and also your customer will learn more about your offer. In addition to product information, the quality of the product and services you offer also has a high impact on customer decisions. Customers will also be very interested when you offer them something more. These can be offers such as free shipping, free goods when buying another, or discount coupons. We will write about how to boost your sales by using eCommerce tools properly in the last part of the series “How to increase online sales?”.
- Reviews and reviews again!
A very important factor in marketing products and services for your new customers is how your previous customers see your services. If you offer them quality, they are more likely to give you a positive review on the site and increase your sales. How? Reviews of your customers not only provide more specific information about your products and services but also have an impact on increasing sales of more expensive products. The Spiegel Research Center found that when reviews of cheaper products were published, their conversion rate (visitors who took the desired action on your site and became your customers) increased by 190 %, while for higher priced products, the conversion rate increased by up to 390 %. Are you afraid of negative reviews? They can also help. The Spiegel research center also found that customers are shopping more when they see reviews of 4.0-4.7 on products and consequently their interest in products decreases, because rating that is too high gives the impression of unreliability.
95 % of shoppers read online reviews before they make a purchase
Summary
- Define the strengths and weaknesses of your brand using SWOT analysis,
- create a well-designed marketing plan with clear goals,
- pay attention to the quality of your website as it sells for you,
- describe your products and services so that your customers get enough information about them,
- take care of the quality of your products and services,
- post your reviews.
In the next article, we will write about how to present yourself through marketing. Don’t miss it and subscribe to the Newsletter.
If you are interested in increasing your online sales and need advice on improving your website so that it sells more, or you are interested in creating a new one, do not hesitate to contact us.