Few industries can match eCommerce in profitability and competition. As more entrepreneurs realize the inherent potential, the space becomes more saturated, making it harder for your business to stand out.
However, with a combination of smart decisions, savvy investments, and growth hacking, you can stay ahead of the competition and continue to grow your business. Here are seven tips that can get you started.
1. Focus on existing customers
One of the factors that separate successful businesses from failures is the ability to retain customers. Driving new traffic to your website and eventually nursing those visitors to purchase can be a long and expensive process. If you don’t have pre-existing sales, it can be difficult to stay afloat until your new marketing efforts yield results.
However, by focusing on your existing customers, you ensure that you always have a revenue base to fall back to. Paying attention to your existing customers can also help you build loyalty, increase repeat sales. Eventually, you can then focus on winning new customers without worrying about sales and revenue.
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2. Maximize your website experience
If you run an eCommerce store, the chances are that you’re already familiar with concepts like user-friendly interface and quick-loading webpages. It’s also critical to place frequently used features in prominent places. For example, the search bar should be in the top right-hand corner of your screen.
For deeper insights, you’ll need analytics data. Luckily, Google Analytics is free to start, and you can gather useful information like which pages people spend the most time on. You can then use this data to organize your page for the best possible user experience.
But you also have a chance to use your on-site traffic in other ways. If you have an email list or are trying to build your social media following, consider directing your visitors to these spaces. You can provide a useful resource as a lead magnet or share exclusive and informational content on your social media.
3. Explore the full range of data analysis benefits
Besides helping to structure your web pages, data analysis can also help you target your desired audience. You can answer questions like, who are your users? What do they buy? What products do they prefer? And much more.
You can use data from these findings for advertising on social media, Google, and other platforms. Even if you don’t have a robust budget, affordable Facebook ads can still deliver effective results. And because your campaign is data-driven, you’ll get incredible and accurate results.
You can also use data in a lot of other ways. For example, if you find that some of your website content is doing better than others, you can capitalize on them and create alternate forms. Infographics, email newsletter content, and even short videos are a great pivot because you can add some extra knowledge and even reach a different segment of your audience.
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4. Don’t forget to ride trends
Trends are a slippery slope because it’s easy to lose sight of your overall goal. Since new trends are developed every other week, you can find yourself chasing each one and trying to make the most of it. A better approach is to only choose trends that match your current message and overall marketing goals.
Even then, it’s important to pay attention to the trend’s longevity. You want events that will last and give you the time to reap the most benefits. There’s no point in investing time and resources in a trend-based campaign only to have it fizzle out two weeks later.
Savvy entrepreneurs only focus on consistent, seasonal trends. The problem with this approach is that you need to spend a lot of time in the planning phase. For example, tons of businesses will have some sort of father’s day promotion, so you need a unique idea to make your offers stand out.
5. Use an eCommerce merchant
There are several products and services for eCommerce businesses for a simple reason. The industry has multiple facets, and managing them all can be tricky. Luckily, there are affordable services that help you manage most of these processes for a small investment.
Consider investing in eCommerce merchant services. These can help you streamline your workflow, integrate your tools, and allow you to focus on what truly matters – the business. An eCommerce merchant can consolidate your shopping cart, payment processing, mail and phone orders, and even back-end forms.
What’s more is that the setup is seamless and designed to get you back to running your business as quickly as possible.
6. Invest in some customer service
Statistics show that customers will come back when they received excellent customer service. Thanks to new software and technology, there are now diverse ways to meet your customers’ needs and give them all the resources they need.
For example, you could invest in chatbots. If you have a large budget, consider building your own chatbot. This way, the responses feel personalized, and your customers know they aren’t dealing with a generic response system. If that’s not an option, get some free “standard” chatbots to begin with. Subsequently, you can customize them to your needs.
If your business operates on multiple channels, consider an eCommerce helpdesk. It can help consolidate all your customer queries into a central dashboard. A help desk also makes it easier to hear what your customers are complaining about.
Read: Why Is Content Marketing Important For Businesses?
7. Ramp Up your email marketing
It’s not news that email marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate sales. In fact, statistics show that email marketing campaigns have up to 4200% ROI! That’s $42 for every $1 spent. It’s also common knowledge that email has a better conversion rate than social media like Facebook and Twitter.
If you aren’t enjoying these remarkable results, it’s time to revamp your approach. A great starting point is building your email list. There are several ways to do this, from placing sign-up forms on your website and thank you page, to offering free gifts, discount codes, and similar perks.
The next step is to stay in touch with your subscribers by giving them valuable information. Don’t just bombard them with products and offers. Share exciting information, tips, and even breaking news.