The people have spoken. So many classic brick-and-mortar stores have closed signaling that customers today prefer shopping online. There may still be a market for occasional trips to the mall, but the bulk of shopping is being done online. It truly is so much more convenient. No time wasted looking for parking and no long checkout lines. You can shop in the comfort of your pajamas when it is convenient for you.
The few things that you do miss about in-person shopping, such as trying on different styles or sizes, are also being taken care of by online retailers. You can order multiple sizes and return the ones you don’t want. Many places have free and easy returns. It really leaves little reason to want to go and shop in person. However, just like stores in a strip mall vying for your attention with balloons and banners, you need to drive sales on your website too. Here are a few ways to do just that.
Hire Professionals
You could wing it yourself, but you may not get the same results a professional would. It’s just like how you could give yourself a manicure, but the techniques and finesse of a licensed nail tech are hard to come by. They have professional tools and training. They have also practiced on hundreds of hands, so they’re quicker and better than an amateur at home.
Similarly, a performance marketing agency is made up of many experts in the marketing field. They know the strategies to drum up business. They know how to strategically post on social media and how much to spend. Such companies can help with media buying, web design, and affiliate marketing, which means you don’t waste money on trial and error. Their experience can help you see results sooner. They also typically have connections in the industry, so they can facilitate meaningful collaborations.
Collaborate With Influencers
Look for influencers who align with your brand. If you sell organic baby food, find social media accounts that talk about babies and healthy eating. That way, they can naturally mention your product to boost awareness. People can relate more to a real-life mom that they follow every day compared to a random ad model or celebrity. Don’t be discouraged by influencers with huge followings who charge high rates. Even micro-influencers in your niche can be worth the investment.
User engagement is what matters, not just the number of followers. Your main job is to find which influencer would be an authentic spokesperson for your brand. Up-and-coming influencers may even agree to promote your brand in exchange for free products. Give each influencer an exclusive promo code so you can track who is bringing in the most sales. This way you can decide who to collaborate with again. You can also gauge which social media platform is giving you the best bang for your buck.
Amp Up Social Media
Just having a presence on social media won’t do you much good. Very few social media users go looking for advertisements. So, your posts need to appear in people’s feeds. The algorithms suggest which accounts users would like. Then, the more they interact with a page, the more that account will show up when they scroll. Consider hiring people who are experts in that social media platform. Ask for their reach and engagement stats before signing on with them though.
Getting customers to interact with your account by having polls, giveaways, and quizzes is a great way to increase your presence on their feeds. But keep in mind, that’s not a long-term strategy. People can click “unfollow” just as quickly as they hit “follow.” Your job is to provide consistent and valuable content that keeps them engaged. Monitor which posts perform well and continue to create similar posts.
Show Up in Search
Social media is just one avenue to boost digital sales. You should try various strategies to see which clicks. For instance, you may have a stellar website but there’s no real point if people cannot find you online. Your site must be optimized so that when people search for flower delivery, your floral shop shows up as high as possible on the first page. Sometimes you may need to spend on ads to get higher up on the page.
Other times, excellent search engine optimization can help get you there. SEO can also help if you sell on Etsy or Amazon. If people are searching for a Mother’s Day bouquet, you can only make a sale if they see your product. Optimize your titles, metatags, and descriptions with relevant keywords to improve search rankings and attract more customers. Of course, your pictures should be high-quality and visually appealing as well. Combining effective SEO with compelling visuals creates a powerful strategy to boost visibility and drive sales.
Harness the Power of Email
Keep building your email list as it is an asset. While social media is a very powerful tool, only a fraction of the people you target may see your post. In contrast, you own your email lists. So even if one day your TikTok account is banned, you can still reach your email subscribers. You can check the efficacy of campaigns by seeing which emails had the highest open rate. You can even see which links were clicked the most.
Create segments in your list and conduct A/B testing. Check out which promotions fare better by testing them out on separate groups. Do more people prefer BOGO deals or prefer having a flat 20% off their order? Your click rates will quickly answer this question.
There is no escaping the digital world irrespective of the size or type of your business. Instead of viewing e-commerce as an unknown monster, learn how to capitalize on it. You could try some strategies in-house, and you could outsource other tasks. By trying a variety of approaches, you can see which avenues are yielding the best results.