If you’re a newer business, you’ve probably always had to deal with stiff competition. But if you were around before the e-commerce craze really kicked in, you know it was much easier back then. It was easy to make sales because there weren’t many options. Today, consumers browse and compare prices and shipping charges before making their decision which amounts to less sales and more work. So, how do you stay ahead?
Get Personal
The more your marketing targets positive and strong customer relationships, the more loyal your customers will be and the more attractive you will be to potential ones. You may have never sent follow up emails in the past or splurged a little on personalized packing tape but you need to now. Your customers need to know how much you appreciate them.
Evaluate your Message
What message are you sending to browsers and how do you compare to your competition. If you were visiting your own page for the first time what is the first thing you would notice? Is there a sentence that jumps out at you? If so, is that sentence portraying you positively?
Be Different
There’s a good chance you are selling the exact same thing as a large number of people but that doesn’t mean you can’t sell it differently. If you carry a specific type of dog collar, why not sell them in packages with a leash or offer them personalized? You could always throw in a free dog tag or bag of treats as well.
Evaluate Your Product Descriptions
Many sites utilize almost the exact same description of many products. Not only is this hurting your search ranking with Google if you look like duplicate content, it’s not doing anything to excite the reader. If you don’t have time to write product descriptions for your site, consider hiring a freelance writer for you so you can really stand out from the rest.
Appreciate Your Customers
The more your customers know they are appreciated, the more likely they are to come back to you. Repeat customers are the bread-and-butter of any business. They are loyal, they enjoy their shopping experience, they are more likely to take the time to write reviews and they will refer others to you. Not to mention, they often spend more money because they’ve already had a favorable experience with you.
Make Use of Social Networking
Do not underestimate just how powerful and effective social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are. This is free marketing that you need to be taking advantage of. Not to mention, this gives you the chance to connect with customers on a personal level and keep them aware of sales and specials.
Shop Around
Do you do any shopping online? If not, you need to start! You can learn a lot about what not to do when you run across sites that make the shopping process difficult. Evaluate not only your competition but other big name stores too. What are they doing to make it easy for customers to buy?
Upgrade
How old is your site? Sure, maybe you change the font, layout and even video frequently but are you updating other areas? Do you accept PayPal or Google Checkout? Are you offering international shopping yet? If not, you could be losing out on a lot of sales.
Ask Questions
Don’t be afraid to ask your best customers why they keep coming back or if there is anything they would change. If you have customers who haven’t made a purchase lately and they used to shop all the time, email and ask the why they haven’t been around and what you can do to earn their business again.
It doesn’t matter how successful you are, there’s always room for improvement. Never be satisfied. Appreciate the sales you have but fight hard for more.
This guest post has been provided by Neil, head of marketing for eMobileScan, an ecommerce site dedicated to B2B sales. Its product set includes handheld computers like the Motorola MC9190 and Es400. Both units have been designed to cut costs and increase productivity which is essential for any business to succeed in today’s marketplace.