In an age where most people are overloaded with information, it can be tough to get your e-commerce store the attention it deserves. You need to find ways to grab your audience's attention and keep them coming back for more. Here are ten tips to help you do just that.
Optimize the Use of Social Media
Social media is filled with potential customers that should know about your business. You need to boost your social media engagement and digital footprint. Utilize all social media platforms relevant to your e-commerce store whether that is Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.
Use creative images and videos to make your content relevant and eye-catching for your customers. Use ad promotions to make your e-commerce business known to users. Urge users to follow your business by providing quality products and services. Tanner Arnold, President & CEO at Revelation Machinery says “Convert your followers into customers by engaging them through interactive content, relevant polls, and incessant posting.”
Email marketing is also a good social media strategy to make customers aware of your business prospects and products without compromising on a limited budget. Create an email list for all your followers/subscribers and use this list to make online shoppers aware of your unique product offerings. Remember social media is your oyster and there is no limit to how many ways you can attract your target audience.
Optimize the SEO of your E-commerce Store
An e-commerce store must increase visibility in the eyes of the customer. There are millions of online shops trying to reach customers at all times. The key to moving past these online shops and reaching your target customer is your search engine optimization strategy. Joe Troyer, CEO & Growth Advisor of ReviewGrower says “SEO is a magic bullet that a business must utilize to take home the prize, the prize being the customer.”
The first step is to hire an SEO expert who utilizes your website, so it is easily accessible and generates a high volume of traffic. The next step is to pay attention to on-page content for your e-commerce store. You must use the lingo that your target customers are most likely to use themselves when searching for the product or service. The more the content resembles your customers’ social personality, the more chances of visibility.
The third and final step of optimizing SEO for your e-commerce store is to include keyword optimization, quality backlinks, and relevant blog posts in your on-page content. This should help in generating a high amount of customer visits to your website. Remember the purpose of this practice is to get your e-commerce store among the top and most frequently visited websites by customers on various search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
Collaborate with Complementary Brands
Consumers are prone to get distracted when there are millions of brands trying to grab their attention on a daily basis. Therefore, as an online store, it is not enough to have unique product offerings alone, it is also pertinent to have relevant brand associations. Associate your products and services with brands that compliment your business. Collaborating with such brands will give exposure to your website and expose customers who are looking for such products.
Collaboration should not only include co-marketing campaigns or co-created content, it may also include attending relevant events and participating in discussions that help expose consumers to your products and services.
Martin Lassen, Founder & CEO of GrammarHow says “Creating partnerships with complementary brands gives you the opportunity or the platform to cross-promote.” He further added “You receive a lot of consumer traffic that otherwise would not be reachable. And it also creates a healthy brand image which is important in social media to remain interesting and relevant in the eyes of consumers.”
Utilize Influencer Marketing
Influencers and Bloggers are the new celebrities in this age of social media. These are individuals who have a high volume of followers and have the capability to influence users or followers with their actions and lifestyle choices. An e-commerce store can highly benefit by collaborating with influencers. The most important thing to note when looking for influencers is the target audience.
Before you sign on any influencer for your brand ask yourself, do his/her values assign to your brand’s values? Is he/her targeting the same audience that you are targeting for your brand? If yes, then that is your star right there. Influencers give your products and services exposure by using your products in their posts, videos, blogs, and vlogs.
Influencers can become your brand ambassador and represent your offerings in social events and brand gatherings. When followers will see their idols wear or carry your products, this will automatically increase the demand for your product.
Nick Jordan, Founder & CEO of Workello says “There are a lot of benefits of utilizing influencer marketing strategies.” Nick further added “You can also co-create with an influencer by releasing a new product line or customized service. The key is to make sure the influencer representing your brand also represents your brand's values.”
Create a User-Friendly and Eye-Catching Website
The first thing consumers see in an e-commerce store is its digital presence. The website of a brand needs to be unique, target audience-friendly, and eye-catching. Consumers should have zero difficulties in finding the products they want.
Consumers should be able to easily distinguish between different products and product lines. The more images, videos, and personality a brand incorporates on its website, the more the brand is likely to stand out in the minds of consumers. The website will be the first thing they judge a brand on and it will be the last thing in their mind when consumers have to make a purchase decision.
Matt Weidle, Business Development Manager at Buyer’s Guide says “The first few minutes of consumer arrival on the brand’s website are very crucial to the success of a purchase.” The duration in which website or content pages are loading or buffering should be kept to a bare minimum. The more they have to wait to see your products, the more chances for customers to revert their attention to alternative websites with better availability and faster response.
Offer Discounts and Freebies
It is a good practice for an e-commerce store to offer bespoke incentives, discounts and sales now and then. This grabs the attention of the consumers and gives them a reason to visit your website much more frequently.
Other than offering discounts on special occasions or holidays relevant to your brand, offering customers free goodies or free products on a certain purchase amount is also beneficial for grabbing attention.
Luke Lee, Founder of PalaLeather says “If you offer free products on the purchase of two products or if you offer a goodies basket with a spending limit of two thousand, then the consumer is more likely to open the website and scroll through your products.”
Offer a Unique Rewards Program
Human beings love to be appreciated and feel special. Every loyal customer believes he/she is contributing to the success of a brand and should receive acknowledgment of this contribution. The most effective method of making your loyal customers feel special is to create loyalty reward programs. What is better than regarding your customers on doing business with you again? Absolutely nothing.
Marc Stitt, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of FMX says “Value your target market by figuring out what are their likes/dislikes, whether they would prefer discounts on products/services or whether they would like early and exclusive access to new products.”
Based on your target market results, create a rewards program that suits your brand. This will increase engagement with the website and instill a positive image of the e-commerce store in the minds of consumers.
Showcase Reviews and Recommendations
In a world full of bots and fake profiles, it is very easy to get scammed by brands. The rapid increase in online shopping has also given rise to a rapid increase in distrust for online brands. It is very difficult for consumers to differentiate between authentic and fake products and services. Therefore, as an e-commerce store, your number one responsibility is to instill trust in customers for your brand.
The easiest way to do that is by showcasing the trust your customers have shown in you. Every recommendation you receive through stories, posts, or blogs, every glowing review you come across through videos, podcasts, or polls, make sure you re-share these.
Kenny Kline, President & Financial Lead at BarBend says “Create a feedback section for your website, and create a content page where you can store every review you receive so your existing customers, as well as potential customers, deem you reliable and trustworthy because there is no greater source than the word of mouth of customers themselves.” Remember customers will always compare your e-commerce store to other online stores so you have to prove to them why your brand is better and more trustworthy compared to your competitors.
Offer a Smooth Checking Out Process
Getting customers to scroll through a brand’s website is easy, the difficult part is to make customers go through their purchases and actually buy a product or service.
Gerrid Smith, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Fortis Medical Billing says “Consumers’ decision buying process can be made easier by offering a user-friendly and quick checking out process.”
The lesser the steps in completing a purchase order, the lesser the chance of the customer to leave the cart and move on to the next shiny thing. Therefore, keep your order completion process simple, easy to navigate, and efficient. Use an algorithm that stores customer data (ensure you have the customer’s consent) so consumers do not have to enter required information every time they make a purchase.
If the consumer leaves the cart to scroll onto another website, map your algorithm in a manner where they see the cart as it is once they come back to the site. This encourages the consumer to go through the purchase without giving them a chance to change their mind.
Create a Sense of Urgency in Purchasing
Creating a sense of urgency for consumers to buy your products and services is another effective method of gaining consumer attention and purchase.
Each time a consumer is looking at your product, make them aware of the product’s limited availability or how many other customers are looking at the same product at the same time. This shows customers the value the product holds and how they need to buy the product as soon as possible before it goes out of stock.
It is a very effective strategy to gain attention as consumers rarely like to risk a product’s availability, especially if they find the product desirable.
Zephyr Chan, Founder of Better Tools says “An effective strategy for creating a sense of urgency within the customer is through broadcasting through posts or stories special prices available on products for a specific time.” Any consumer with a plan to buy a similar product will most likely leap if they deem the product deal or price offering an outstanding win.
Summary
Trends in the marketplace are always evolving. The only thing that needs to remain consistent for an e-commerce store is the ability to adapt to market changes. All of the e-commerce strategies explained above can help businesses thrive and become success stories.