Running an online business can be a very profitable venture and eCommerce is slowly becoming one of the most popular ways to shop, especially for new generations. Starting an online business is a smart decision for anyone as it’s estimated that by the year 2040, 95% of all purchases will be through eCommerce.
However, since there are many online businesses, it can be hard to find customers and increase sales. That’s why we’ve prepared a list of useful tips that can help you boost sales. If you implement all of them, you will be able to either make a good profit running the website or by listing your online business for sale.
Apply email marketing
You need to constantly engage with your customers and people who are on your email list to always be on their mind, even subconsciously. Some companies implement email marketing but don’t see their desired results because they don’t use this channel as they should.
Before you even start your email marketing campaign, you need to segment your list of subscribers. Each of your subscribers is different and they will react to different types of content. Segmenting your list by characteristics such as age, gender, country of origin, and hobbies can help you determine what kind of emails each demographic will react to best.
After you’ve segmented your list, it’s time to send out emails. While they will differ according to the demographic, there are some things all of your emails need to have in common:
- Personalization. Personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates but they still aren’t used that often by marketers. If you put in even the small effort of including the customer’s first name and other small details in the email, it can lead to an increase in revenue.
- A sense of urgency. You will be able to convert subscribers into paying customers if you add a sense of urgency with phrases such as “Act now” and “For a limited time only”.
- Social proof. Potential customers are more likely to convert if they see social proof such as customer testimonials and positive reviews.
- A CTA. A call-to-action can also increase the chances of converting a subscriber and it can be a simple sentence such as “Buy now” or “Get this offer now”.
If you want to make your email marketing efforts easier, you need to automate the process. For instance, if you keep all of your contacts in Excel and want to send a message to a large number of customers, you can simply send a mail merge from Excel and save yourself a lot of time.
Use LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the only social media platform that is used exclusively by people in business and it is the perfect place for sales prospecting. While it can be intimidating for those who have never used the platform and its many features, it’s easy to learn and can help you get a lot of sales down the line.
Open a profile
The first important thing you need to do is tweak your profile for sales. You will engage with a lot of people on this network and most of them will probably look at your profile to see if it’s professional enough.
Some aspects of a good profile include:
- Professional headline that conveys what your business does and what it stands for.
- Summary with a unique selling proposition that includes business-related keywords and visual content.
- High-quality image of you or your business’ logo.
Find prospects
Once you have your profile in order, it’s time to find prospects. There are a couple of ways you can do this:
- Join relevant groups and start or join a discussion to be noticed, build your authority and show your expertise in your chosen field. This way, you can find a lot of prospects.
- Use LinkedIn’s advanced search filters to find people in specific industries that might be interested in your company.
- Check the “People Also Viewed” section in your prospects’ profiles to potentially find even more prospects.
Start sending messages
The messages you send to prospects are supposed to convince them that you are worthy of their time and business, so they need to be well-crafted and professional. You should also always address your prospects by their first name and mention how you came across their profile.
Make sure to also use tools for LinkedIn bulk connection to automate your process and find more prospects.
Start a customer loyalty program
Every business has loyal customers that keep coming back to purchase from them. So, why not reward those customers?
Customer loyalty programs are very popular since they are beneficial for both parties as the company can boost sales from them and the customers get certain rewards or perks when they buy products.
Here are some of the benefits you will see if you start a customer loyalty program:
- Better customer experience. Since there are countless eCommerce stores your customers can choose from, it’s important to give them a good incentive to choose your store. These programs work great as an incentive because customers are happy when they get more for their money than just the product.
- Customer referrals. Most loyalty programs also come with a referral program that rewards existing customers for every new customer they bring to your business. This is a dual-sided reward mechanism where both parties come out with something they want.
- Building social proof. Social proof is an important marketing tool, and you can build it by offering rewards to loyal customers if they leave reviews or testimonials.
Be smart about the checkout process
Finding prospects and marketing your products to them is a big part of the sales process, but not the only one. Even if you lead your customer all the way to the very end of the sales funnel, that doesn’t mean they won’t change their minds once they reach the checkout.
Some aspects of the checkout process can turn some customers away, but there are ways to prevent that.
- Make the process easy. The convenience of online shopping becomes pointless if the checkout process is overly complicated. A large number or cart abandonments happen because the checkout process is too extended or complicated.
- Remove the navigation bar. If customers can navigate from the checkout process, some of them will. If you remove the navigation bar, customers will be forced to either complete the purchase or leave your website.
- Include multiple payment options. If you include just one or two payment options, you will lose a lot of potential customers. Customers want to pay in a way that is convenient for them, so you should include credit cards, but also alternative methods such as PayPal.
Final thoughts
Boosting sales probably seems like a long and difficult process, but it can be simple if you know which tactics to apply. While it will take some time to see results, it will be worth it in the end when those orders start coming in rapidly and constantly.
As long as you apply all the strategies you’ve just read about as well as some other online marketing strategies and keep your eye on the prize, you will be able to not only boost sales but also make a name for yourself as an accomplished and skilful business owner.
