Achieving Growth
The commonality for all online businesses is to achieve growth. This is accomplished by increasing your online sales. There are numerous ways to increase the growth of your business but they do require a little time.
Ad Extensions
Ad extensions expand the scale of your online ads. They enable you to add details to increase your click through rate. These ads will stand out from the basic ads run by your competitors. The types of extensions available include sitelink, location, call, review and callout.
Content Marketing
New leads often come from content marketing. This assists in the building and support of your customer relationships. Two excellent methods to generate leads are by offering a free eBook or report. For subscribers not interested in this offer a unique content can be promoted on your popular blogs. For instance, Oroton showcased how the accessories they market are best suited for weekend escape which creates a brand message to customers looking for bags or accessories.
The Strategic Giveaways
A give away will draw attention to your brand while generating new traffic. This brings you potential subscribers for new customers. The latest technology devices draw a lot of people but many individuals already own them. The fans of the competitors of these devices will not be impressed. The prize should be relevant to your products and services. This can include free samples or products, rewards, discounts, VIP access and special offers. This additionally increases the trust factor with your customers.
Data Security
While you are building your online business you must be aware of the importance of data security. If your data is not secure and protected, you are risking your business. If you have a payment gateway, then there should be absolute security. Unwanted actions, destructive forces and unauthorized users can cause a lot of damage. This includes data breaches and cyber attacks. Data security is critical to success.
Customer Service
The most important aspect of growing your business is customer retention. Acquiring new customers is much more expensive than retaining your current customers. This is because they are easier to sell. On average they are fifty percent more agreeable to trying a new product. Their transactions will be roughly 31 percent more than new customers. The best way to retain customers is with an excellent and proactive customer service program. Keep customer interactions open with the live chat during and after the sale. Follow up with emails to improve retention, build loyalty and increase value for your customers.
The Influencers
Nearly every industry has influencers. They provide the latest opinions, trends, information and advice. Working with influencers will increase your brand’s reach. The majority of customers make their decisions with word of mouth. This will drive the visibility of your brand. Determine who your influencers are then making a personal connection to exchange value.
The New Customers
New customers will be critical of your products or services. They must be shown the same treatment as your valued customers. Educating new customers will create a level of comfort and help increase sales. Call attention to the most important aspects and policies on your site. Communication tours show customers support is available. This includes email, resource images, videos, documents and tutorials. This content is often shared on social sites. Personal thank you messages increase word of mouth and improve retention.
The Checkout
If your checkout process is not smooth the result is abandoned carts. The average amount of abandoned carts are 68 percent. This totals roughly $4.9 trillion worldwide. The process must be simple and fast with decreased friction. This includes shipping and pricing costs, checkout navigation, security concerns, lengthy forms and customer support information. Improving your checkout process will decrease the number of abandoned carts.
The Pricing
Multiple purchasing options such as menus for cheap to expensive items can effectively lead your customers to the middle range. This is a psychology to increase sales for specific items. Offer different pricing tiers for similar products to effectively increase the amount of your sales.
Social Shares
When your customers are excited they are more likely to talk about your product or service. This generally occurs when their package is received. Place a note or card in the box encouraging your customers to share their purchase using social media. Add an incentive such as a discount or promotional code for sharing. When your customer’s post makes a response and tracks the posts. This will encourage your customers to continue their participation.
The Referral Program
Give your customers encouragement to talk about your business with a rewards and referral program. Recent studies show 83 percent of consumers are happy to refer their families and friends to an online store when their experience was positive. Referrals are only made by 29 percent. This is because the businesses are not asking for referrals. This requires providing incentives and value your customers care about. You can learn which incentives your customers are interested in with a little research. This should be the basis for your referral promotions, social promotions, customer communications and customer touch points.
Social Proof
There is significant weight to referrals and recommendations from friends. This makes a referral program extremely effective for the growth of your online business. People are careful about spending money online and require trust to make the purchase. This is where social proof becomes important. Social proof includes product reviews to help your customers relax, social channels to attract content generated by your customers and consumer engagement. Reviews and testimonials are also very effective. This will lead to your customers telling stories and raise the value of your brand in the eyes of your customers.
The Online Business
Many online businesses place too much emphasis on customer acquisitions when their desire is to grow. The engagement you have with your customers in a less expensive and worthwhile approach. The hacks described above are an excellent way to begin growing your business.
