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In the past few years, the eCommerce sector has seen rapid expansion. In fact, in 2023, the eCommerce industry is set to generate an incredible $6.3 trillion globally. To put that in perspective, if online sales were an actual country, it would have the third highest GDP in the entire world, second only to China and the United States.
With the rise of eCommerce, you might be thinking that now is the perfect time to launch a new eCommerce business. Or perhaps you already have one set up and wonder what you need to do to take it to new heights of success. Whatever your situation is, there are several things that you can do to make sure your eCommerce store does not disappear in the sea of websites.
Growing your eCommerce and boosting sales is not as hard as you might think. You don't have to exhaust and lose yourself in the process. More often than not, it is about using a combination of small techniques to help you reach your goals and pull it all together.
The good news is that with the right strategies and tools, you can launch and grow a successful eCommerce business that will help you improve your position in the market, reach more customers, and increase your profits.
In the article below, we’ll discuss some of the best actionable strategies you can use to start growing your eCommerce business.
Identify your Audience
To grow, eCommerce businesses must focus on qualified target audiences. Although anyone with a computer and an internet connection could easily find your products, that does not mean that they are your target audience. Marketing will be more effective if you target specific buyers.
Begin by identifying customers who have an interest in or need for your products or services. Start with a list that includes existing customers, or find highly relevant keywords people are using in organic searches. You can use the demographics of social media channels to identify your target audience or engage with relevant groups.
You should use all the information you have collected about your target audiences to create marketing persons—a summary of the motivations, characteristics, and environments of members of your target audience. These personas can then be used to shape and design your marketing campaigns so that you can ensure your campaigns speak directly to the target audience.
Try SMS Marketing
If you're looking for efficient ways to grow your eCommerce business and generate more leads, SMS marketing could be a great idea. With its high open rate, robust insights, and scalability, it’s a perfect way to reach prospects with minimal effort.
However, it's crucial to identify your target audience before you can maximize the success of your SMS campaign. Good SMS campaigns target specific customers, and they know how to tap into their interest with special offers and promotional materials.
This insight will help you design compliant SMS pop-up forms that are appealing to your specific customer base, resulting in more opt-ins and generating leads. You will have an advantage over campaigns that use a generic approach to generate leads by doing some research and understanding your SMS subscribers.
A strong call to action is one of the best ways you can ensure that your SMS marketing message will be successful. Your CTA needs to be concise and clear so people understand what to do next. CTAs can be used in headlines or offers to direct users to a specific action. This technique increases engagement and adds urgency to your message.
You’ll be able to stand out among other text messages from competitors by using a creative and unique CTA. This will increase your chances of getting more leads. When you create your SMS marketing campaign, use this strategy to see your lead generation soar.
Focus on Social Media
In today’s competitive eCommerce space, social media is a powerful tool for businesses to reach their target audience. It allows companies to connect with customers in real time, build relationships, and create an engaging brand experience. Social media can also help drive traffic to your online store, increase sales, and boost brand awareness.
The first thing you need to focus on is drawing in more followers. However, as more and more businesses join social media channels, it can be difficult to boost the number of followers on your accounts.
But there’s no need to get discouraged. If, for instance, you use Instagram the most, you can manually grow your account. However, this may be a slow process because it takes a long time to gain a large number of followers, and you’ll have to spend a great deal of time trying to attract the right audience and boost Instagram engagement.
An excellent solution to this is investing in Instagram growth services that will provide you with a dedicated team of marketers to assist you in achieving new heights of business success. If you're looking to increase your sales, engage your audience and drive traffic to your website, Instagram growth services will help you do this with ease. They can help you attract relevant followers, or in other words, those who have a genuine interest in your products and services.
A growth service will optimize your hashtags, post captions and engage Instagram users. They can also help you generate high-quality leads through the addition of a call-to-action in your profile bio.
In addition, brands that respond quickly and can hold a good conversation are always appreciated. So, make sure you respond to comments and DMs frequently to promote good customer service and increase your following.
Encourage Repeat Business
It’s easier to sell your products to someone who has already purchased from you than it is to sell them to a stranger. Do not ignore people who already decided they like your brand. They’ll return if you provide them with excellent customer service, quality products, and competitive prices. If you're fortunate, they may even spread the word about your business.
Many businesses focus their marketing efforts on attracting new customers to their websites. But they don't realize that they have an existing base of loyal customers who are happy to come back whenever they need a new product or a replacement.
It’s not uncommon for companies to give the best discounts to their new customers. However, this can make existing customers feel unappreciated and unwanted. It is especially evident when using the subscription model. Customers will often switch suppliers so they can get another "welcoming discount.”
You might want to consider offering specials, such as "buy one, get one free," on certain product lines to existing customers, depending on the markup. You can also give your customers loyalty cards that reward them with a specific product after they have used it a certain number of times.
Provide Stellar Customer Service
Another smart way to encourage repeat business is by providing the best possible customer service. The sales process does not end with the sale. You need to make the buying experience as easy as possible, as customers can't usually touch or feel your product, unlike in a physical shop. It is also important that they feel confident in purchasing from you, knowing that you will be there for them in case something goes wrong with their purchase.
A second important aspect of eCommerce is the fact that consumers rely on product reviews when making purchasing decisions. Oberlo reports that nearly nine out of ten consumers check reviews when discovering a local business, and 54.7% of consumers read four or more reviews before buying a product. This is why you need to provide outstanding customer service if you want to get glowing reviews.
Bad customer reviews can reduce the likelihood of someone returning as a repeat customer. The reviews can also deter other buyers from trying your product. They will instead go to another site that has better reviews, giving them the confidence to spend money there.
Consider Content Marketing
Content marketing can be considered an inbound strategy because it attracts audiences to your eCommerce website. This is a great balance to more traditional outbound marketing tactics, which try to reach buyers wherever they are such as their email inboxes or social media feeds.
Content marketing is a key component of modern SEO strategies. It drives search traffic to your website so that new customers can discover your brand, products, and services. A content marketing strategy can be a huge undertaking, and you should keep in mind a few of the following important points:
- Create educational and informative content to help your audience solve their problems.
- Regularly publish content. If you must, start slowly but remain consistent.
- Be better than your competition. You should learn from your competitors, but then develop content that is more complete, helpful, and thorough.
It's also important to remember that content marketing is not a strategy for immediate growth. Even the best content strategies take time to gain traction, build trust and deliver value. The long-term investment is however absolutely worth it.
Final Thoughts
If you have an eCommerce business, you’re operating in one of the fastest-growing, ever-changing industries, and you must therefore keep up-to-date with the latest trends and strategies to get ahead of the curve.
On its own, each of these strategies we mentioned is very effective but when implemented together they can help you gain customer loyalty, rocket your eCommerce sales and help you get a much larger slice of the market pie.
