Since 2020 and the real impact of the Covid-19 pandemic became apparent, online shopping has exploded in popularity. Many expected it to be a blip, and for shopping patterns to return to pre-covid levels as restrictions were eased. But here we are in 2023, and buying online is still the most common purchasing method. Even if your business doesn’t sell products directly through an e-commerce site, understanding how customers engage with buying online is incredibly important moving forward. And to ensure you get off on the right foot, here are 4 ways you can increase your online sales in 2023, no matter what you sell.
Don’t Clickbait On Ads
There’s nothing worse than seeing an ad online that looks really great, but being taken to a generic homepage or irrelevant landing page when you click on it. When this happens, buyers will often click the ‘back’ button and go looking for something that delivers on its promises
If you’re running any form of advertising campaign, you need to make sure you have unique landing pages for each one to direct to. This allows you to keep your messaging consistent and on target. So if you’re advertising a special offer on eye serum, you need to link through to a landing page about that special offer on eye serum. It sounds simple, but you would be amazed at how many businesses don’t manage it!
Offer A Money-Back Guarantee – And Mean It
One of the most common reasons people back out of buying something online isn’t your product – it’s the risk. It’s not something they can see in person before buying, which means there is an inherent risk that comes with it. What if it isn’t the right thing for them? What if it doesn’t work? Maybe they don’t like it when it arrives? Even the smallest purchase can come with a heavy dose of buyer’s remorse, and savvy online shoppers know this. So before they commit to purchasing, they want to know they have some protection in place.
This is where having a money-back guarantee comes in. This simple step removes the risk from the prospect’s decision, which means they’re more likely to buy from you. The simpler and clearer you make the guarantee, the more confident they feel.
But don’t make it a money-back, but-only-if-you-meet-these-100-conditions, guarantee. That just signals to buyers that you aren’t interested in making sure they get the best product and experience, only in their money. The most effective guarantees are simple, clear and above all honoured – so don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Create Detailed Buyer Personas
In order to sell effectively anywhere (but especially online), you need to know who you’re selling to. This is where buyer personas come in. Hopefully, you have some basic buyer personas in place already, but in 2024 you need to hone them to a fine point. Just look at the level of detail advertising platforms look for when choosing a target market. That’s the level of detail you need in your buyer personas.
You need to understand your buyers better now than ever before, because only then can you get them onto your website and convince them to buy from you. So review your existing buyer personas, and add in more detail wherever you can. Understand who they are, what drives them, what’s behind convenience purchases, and what puts them off purchasing. Using all of that information, you can target your marketing more effectively and see a much higher ROI in 2024.
Don’t Forget The Follow-Up
For many e-commerce businesses the work finishes once the sale is completed and the customer’s money is in their bank account. While this makes sense in one way, it’s the wrong attitude to take if you want to grow your business and see a higher ROI for your marketing efforts. After all, it’s cheaper to retain existing customers than to constantly acquire new ones, so you should be focussing on the post-sale process too.
For online businesses, this often means something as simple as a follow-up email. But not just any follow-up email. This email should be thoughtful and considerate, relevant to the customer’s purchase and entice them to come back. For example, you could send a detailed summary of their order, provide customer service information, give them links to useful articles or guides for their purchase and prompt them to leave you feedback once they have their item. This type of email is a small-time investment to set up, but it can then be automated to go out after each purchase and create a great customer service experience for your buyers – building the relationship that means they are more likely to come back.At Lion Spirit Media we work with e-commerce businesses to market their services and boost their conversion rates. Most often this means looking at your processes and creating customer-centric marketing strategies to meet the buyer’s needs, encouraging higher average sale value and more repeat business. If you’d like more tips on how to increase your online sales in 2024, just get in touch with the team today.
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