The eCommerce industry has had a reasonably straightforward rise to prominence in the online world over the last decade. Right now, the entire field is worth almost three trillion US dollars. With the industry expected to surpass the four-trillion mark by the end of 2021, it’s no surprise that entrepreneurs around the world are rushing to bank on the lucrative trend.
However, this doesn’t mean that the rise of eCommerce superstardom is not without its inherent challenges and obstacles. In such a saturated marketplace, standing out from the crowd and attracting a loyal following can be difficult, not to mention converting your audience members into paying customers. With that in mind, let’s look at five actionable tactics that will help you drive sales and build a brand that will withstand the test of time.
Focus on building a brand
Branding is the driving force behind the success of every 21st-century company. There is nothing to set you apart from the competition without a brand, nothing for your potential and existing customers to hold onto. Remember, shopping is an emotional rather than a rational experience. A brand aims to strike that emotional chord with the shopper, ultimately transforming them into lifelong brand followers who will spread a company’s word across the digital realm.
Creating a unique set of visuals, messages, stories, and a distinct tone of voice will help you build a recognizable brand that will echo throughout the industry and stand taller than any other in the hearts and minds of your customers. To create these messages and stories, you will need to craft a strong content marketing strategy that will position you as the authority in the industry.
Build a strong content strategy
In the online world, content truly is king, from creating catchy headlines to attract readers to your website to crafting compelling stories and product descriptions that will establish an emotional connection with the reader, all the way to optimizing your content for top SERP positioning on relevant search engines – content matters.
There is nothing Google hates more than a static website, and there is nothing the modern customer hates more than a faceless business without a unique set of values they can identify with. So, to create a winning content strategy, be sure to:
- Write unique content regularly.
- Write content that appeals to people as well as search engines.
- Instead of listing the benefits of your products, focus on creating an emotional story to support them.
- Make the reader want to own your products; they need to visualize themselves with the item.
- Try to diversify your content pool and introduce creative images, infographics, podcasts, videos, tutorials, live events, etc.
- Post not only on your website but on other reputable websites in your industry for maximum reach and engagement.
Strive for innovation
Innovation in every sense of the word. If you’re not innovating, you’re falling back. In such a fast-paced world, you cannot guarantee that your top-selling products will perform well in the months to come, which is why innovation should always be at the forefront of your growth strategy. Of course, this requires some sound financial planning, so you should tidy up your finances first.
To keep the innovation department (in most cases, you will be the only member) open, consider personal loans to finance your lifestyle. At the same time, you direct your primary income source to business growth, marketing, and ensuring unparalleled user experience and customer service. With a solid financial foundation, you will have no problem putting money into your business without risking losing your livelihood.
Use social media to your advantage.
Social media is everywhere around us, it permeates every minute of our everyday lives, and it shapes the human experience. If you consider that some three billion people use social media daily, then it only stands to reason that you should try to exploit this wealthy pool of opportunities for the growth of your brand.
Expanding your brand reach on social media shouldn’t be a daunting task; you need to:
- First, disseminate your content across all relevant networks.
- Lead active accounts on all of your platforms.
- Communicate with your audience.
- Invest in influencer marketing.
- Share your content every day.
- Tailor a marketing strategy for each platform – there can be no single approach to rule all social media networks.
- Track KPIs and improve as needed.
Invest in customer retargeting
Last but not least, many eCommerce businesses go under or at least fail to reach their true potential because they’re losing too many customers somewhere during the shopping process. Abandoned carts are the most common occurrence in the eCommerce world, so you want to reach out to your potential customers with a little something called retargeting. You can use retargeting software to connect with the people who abandoned their carts and incentivize them to come back or finish their purchase with special offers, deals, bundles, etc.
The eCommerce industry is on a perpetual upward trajectory, creating a suitable environment for entrepreneurs to kick-start their online stores and establish digital superstardom. With these actionable tips, you can pave the road to true eCommerce success.
