How can you increase sales in your online store?

Having a marketing plan for their business is something most people do and understand the usefulness of. Our marketing department has over the years had the advantage of working with thousands of companies in our years as digital marketers, and one of the things that always strikes us is the enormous potential that is most often found there but not exploited just because the companies do not really know where to start with their marketing.

But it doesn't have to be hard to get started!  

Start by defining your brand!

Many people don't actually have a trademark, keep in mind that a name or website with a logo is not the same as having a clear trademark. A brand is really what defines your store, what makes you stand out from your competitors. However, not everyone has the money and resources to create expensive and time-consuming campaigns to build a brand, but it does nothing. There is an easy and cheap way to build and communicate your brand:

Why did you start your business?

Ask yourself why you started your business? What are you proud of? Most often, the answer to the two questions can tell you why your store is unique.

Talk to your customers!

Ask your customers: What do you like about our store? Is there anything you think we can improve? Why did you choose us and not a competitor? When you talk to your customers, you usually understand better what works and what makes you attractive to your customers, and it should be shown through your brand.

Do competitor analysis

Look at your competitors' online stores and ask yourself: What are they doing well? What are they not doing well? This makes it easier to find "gaps" and opportunities that you can exploit.

Use all available information to build your brand!

Once you have your story in place, the tactics of the competition and the feedback from your customers, it's time to build your brand. That means it's time to start communicating your position in the market. It has to be something as simple as:

• Why should customers choose you?
• What makes you stand out?
• What are you doing that your competitors aren't?

If you have followed the above tips, you should have found your trademark by now.

Review the content and language of your online store

Take two steps back and dare to be self-critical. The most common problem tends to be that communication in text is overly advanced and technical. Do you clearly communicate what you stand for? Does everyone easily understand what you're selling?

Too often, it is too difficult to perceive the message if it is not adapted in the right way, i.e. simple, concrete and with clear expectations of what the customer gets when they buy a service or product from you. It can even be so simple that your customer group demands clearer and more concrete information than what you currently convey in the online store.

The main message of this point is: "Know who your target audience is and adapt the information to your target audience's knowledge and questions."

1. Does your online store have the information that my target market needs?

A website is more or less worthless if it doesn't have the information that your target audience needs. This means that you must have information about what your online store does, descriptive product texts, clear prices, good contact information as well as good information about what services you offer (e.g. shipping, support, payment methods, etc.). In fact, it's surprising how often any of the above information is missing, regardless of the size of your business.

1. Do I use a language that my target audience uses?

Often you are in a terminology and a way of talking so that you forget how customers talk and communicate, which can be downright "fatal". This means that the content of the online store does not match what customers are searching for, so that you lose the target group, both on the website and in search engines. In order for your online store to be effective, you need to start with a keyword analysis to find the words and terminologies that your target audience uses and that are used when looking for products and services that you deliver. Customize the content of your online store after that analysis so that the language reflects the content of the homepage.

"Remember, your brand is basically your content and your language."

You will want to talk more about your expertise in a language so that it is accessible to everyone, but with a focus on what makes your business different from everyone else.

1. Overall marketing strategies

If you have come all the way here, your online store should reflect your brand and clearly distinguish itself from your competitors. I assume that the online store is already optimizing against search engines, if it is not then now is the time to start!

This is when the work that most companies find difficult begins...

There are several ways to work, as well as hundreds of channels, all of which are good and should be used, but where do you start?

1. In fact, you don't have to start with everything at once!
2. Remember that the most important thing is that you do one thing well and that you focus on what gives you the most return in sales compared to how much time and money you have spent (ROI – Return On Investment).

Content strategy

Text content is king at Google, they want you to give your visitors the best experience possible. You can do this by making sure that you have a lot of great content in your online store. Just remember that it is not the amount of text that is decisive, but the quality of it.

It can pay to work on this as the only thing you need to spend is your own time. But if you don't have the time or opportunity to work on content on your own site, or simply see that you don't have the opportunity to compete with other companies that do this more than you, then it's probably more important that you focus on other channels. It's then time to start working with marketing outside your own online store!

Paid traffic

Paid traffic can consist of Lot, Search, Display or Social. If done the right way, it can be a very profitable way to get more sales. But there's a downside too. It can take a lot of time and money to monitor and improve your campaigns so that they become profitable. If your industry is competitive, many keywords and campaigns can cost a lot, which means that your landing pages must be highly optimized and converting in order for it to be profitable to invest in paid traffic.

Social

This is something anyone can start with, you already have a network. Use it! Start by communicating your brand and what you do to as many people as possible. Just remember that the most important thing about social channels is that you have to convey something that is worth sharing further, otherwise the message will not get through and you can see it as a waste of time. Example: LinkedIn and Twitter are usually better for B2B (business-to-business) while Facebook is better for B2C (business-to-consumer). Choose a channel you know is customized and used by your target audience, and focus on it!

Email

Email is suitable for retaining and returning customers who have already shopped in your store, but is not a channel that should be used for so-called "prospecting". Emails to people who are not familiar with your brand will most likely be perceived as spam. It is therefore important that your email campaigns contain campaigns or information that is relevant to your target audience.

Local Online Marketing

If your company has a physical store and an online store, this is an effective channel to work in. Make sure your business is located in Google Maps and on Google My Business . It takes a while to set up, but once it's done, you never have to do it again.

Cooperation

Is there anyone in your network who can be an ambassador for your brand? Something that maybe is known or that many people know who is? Take advantage of this! Testimonials ("what do our customers say") can be a great way to work, as it also shows that you have loyal customers who are happy with your store. Maybe there's a blog that writes a lot about the products you sell? Contact them and ask if you can advertise on their blog or if they would like to write a post about you.
The possibilities for collaboration are really most limited by your own imagination, so use it!

Summary

There's a lot to do and it's easy to get bored and confused by all the opportunities and costs that may come, but remember that if you do nothing, nothing will happen. Remember that all it takes is the following: Brand, language, content, and remember to share!