If you are reading this, I assume that the odds are against you. You probably already have a website and some experience online selling. So, why would you read on? It’s simple. Because I’m going to show you ten proven marketing strategies to boost your web sales, some of these techniques take just minutes to implement. For others, it will require more work. But each one is guaranteed to increase your profits, whether you’re a beginner or top-level marketer in eCommerce.
Negative keywords
We’ve all been there: surfing and clicking through bazillion Google Ads trying to find the right, only to be kicked off by the “Pay-Per-Click” message.
People who are not interested in what you have to offer can be a marketing gold mine. After all, they are already familiar with your product or service and have chosen to opt-out of your advertising campaign. And if somebody tells you that they don’t need it, imagine how many potential customers might still buy from you?
If you know how many hours went into this little trick, the ROI is pretty impressive too! By identifying negative keywords that people typed in when opting out from my Google Adwords campaigns, I increased my CTR (Click through Rates) by nearly 400%. As a result, sales increased by 30%. Check RemoteDBA.com for insights.
Video marketing
We all have seen it. That video advertisement pops up before the clip you were about to watch. These days YouTube is one of the most visited websites, not just because you can watch free clips of cats doing strange things. It’s also a powerful marketing tool for selling online: use keywords in your title, tags, and description to guide people searching for your product or service towards your ad. Also, try embedding promotional videos on your website using technology like flash players or HTML5 – very few marketers do this, and as a result, they are missing out on extra sales!
Make the buying process dead-easy
Let me ask you a question: when was the last time you bought something from a website which took 30 minutes to check out? I’ll tell you when: probably never. The problem with long, complicated buying processes is that the more steps there are in the purchase journey, the less likely people are to complete their orders even if they like your product or service enough to visit your site in the first place!
This means that it’s up to you to make sure that everything is as easy as possible for your customers, and this includes saving any information about them which you can use on future visits. And don’t forget about using trust badges and purchase protection measures where appropriate!
Limited time offers and discounts
Wouldn’t it be great to boost sales during quiet periods? I’d say it’s a no-brainer. However, instead of just slashing prices and offering one-size-fits-all discounts like everyone else, why not give people a reason to buy now rather than later?
Amazon’s “lightning deals inspired my latest campaign.” They run special promotions for particular products, only opening up sales for a limited period (usually around an hour). It’s great because the sense of urgency makes more people act immediately. And if you’re clever about it, you can even make this work for old inventory too.
FREE! FREE! FREE!
Everybody loves free stuff, especially when it comes to online shopping. So why not offer your visitors a freebie just for signing up to your mailing list?
As a rule of thumb, sending out an email should be worth about $1-2. Just make sure it’s not too big; otherwise, people may hesitate to take you up on the offer. Offering more than that is likely to scare some potential customers away; nobody likes losing money! But you can see this as a form of “advertising” because when people read their emails, they’ll remember your company and take another look at what you have to offer.
The power of testimonials
People love other people’s advice, especially when it comes to making important decisions online. This is why it pays off to get testimonials from happy customers. You can do this by adding a comment section to your website. Or you could ask for written reviews via email or social media posts (make sure they are good ones!). These small prompts will reassure potential customers that your service or product is the real deal, giving them the confidence to buy from you.
Social media marketing
With over 1 billion active users each month, it’s no wonder why Social Media is one of the top ways to sell more! I’m not going to get into any specifics here because there are just too many networks out there and new ones appearing all the time. But if you have an existing online presence on Facebook, Twitter, or another similar site, don’t forget to link it to your website! If you add links like this wherever possible, you will be able to drive a lot of extra traffic from people who only want more information before making a purchase.
Product reviews and testimonials
You need product reviews and testimonials on your site because they reassure customers about what they are buying AND tell them what other people think (which is usually why many shoppers look for this kind of info in the first place). That’s why services like TrustPilot have become so popular recently – it’s instant peer-to-peer feedback that can make or break online sales!
The problem with testimonials alone, however, is that they don’t offer much information. To fix this, you could interview happy customers and turn their responses into a written review (make sure they are quality articles).
An example of a successful product review website is Review Stream. They have grown very quickly since starting up just 2 years ago by focusing on what consumers want to find out about before buying: features, pricing, and customer opinions.
Create an FAQ section
A question I always get asked is: “Can you tell me everything about your company?” And the answer is usually no – it would take way too long! But with a well-written Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, you can cover typical queries in fashion without wasting too much time. It is also a great marketing tool because when people can’t find what they want from your site, they’ll click on the ‘FAQ’ link. When they do that, you have a chance to control their direction and choice of products!
Write short blog posts (inform your customers)
It’s no secret that online shoppers don’t like reading huge chunks of text before purchasing. Many will be put off right away and switch to another website where it’s not as demanding. That’s why it pays to write short blog posts which are focused on one main idea. Ultimately, if you educate your visitors, those interested will stay around to learn more (and ultimately, buy from you). This list has been presented in no particular order. There is no ranking system for this type of article. The reason behind it is that there’s no need to rank every topic and factor as equal or that it’ll be necessary to conduct an investigation into which one should be placed in a certain position over another. This article was written with the main goal of providing helpful advice and nothing else. Each point is unique and covers different topics while not being ordered by the importance or impact they have.
