The events of 2020 hit the accelerator on the already growing world of online sales. With more eyes on-screen than ever before, it is essential for businesses selling online to ensure their websites and digital marketing strategies are properly optimised to increase revenue.
In an environment where every business is trying to get in on the e-action, there are five key things businesses must focus on in order to increase sales online to increase revenue.
Build a roadmap
Not creating a detailed roadmap for your business is just about as effective as reading a map upside down, if you’re looking to increase online sales. The first thing you need to include is your 12-month revenue goal. Breaking the end goal down into monthly breadcrumbs can help you look at how many purchases you need and how many visitors you will need on your website to reach your goal, based on your existing conversion rate. Monthly action items and targets are crucial for developing a good roadmap. The final element of your roadmap is drafting ads on a platform, such as Facebook or Google, that allows you to test how much it will cost you to get your target number of visitors to your website.
Edit your sales copy
If a potential customer clicks on a digital marketing ad, social media post or even a sale button on your website, they should be taken to exactly where they expect in order to convert to purchase. Honesty, transparency and consistency are important communication elements in your sales copy. In order to create a relationship with a customer they must trust your brand – so ensure your sales copy reflects so.
Optimise your website
It is all well and good for your website to look beautiful, but if it is difficult to find, slow to load or complicated to navigate, you may as well shut up shop now. In today’s climate, ensure it is listed on all relevant directories and affiliate sites. Working with an experienced digital media team will guarantee your site is enhanced with mobile capabilities, search engine optimisation strategies, and as streamlined as possible.
Show off your happy customers
Customers have countless avenues to fire their feedback at you in the world of social media and interactive technologies – and your business should use this to your advantage. Gushing testimonials about your brand’s practices and raving reviews about a product often speak far more volumes than even the best written sales copy. They say a picture says 1000 words, so a customer sharing a photo of them wearing, using or showing off a product from your business is priceless. Testimonials, reviews and photos (with permission) can be spotlighted on your social media channels, in marketing emails and on your website.
Provide as many payment options as possible
Sadly, nearly $4 trillion worth of online merchandise is abandoned in incomplete shopping carts each year. It is crucial to nail your check out process in order to increase conversion rates, and ultimately revenue. Begin by streamlining your checkout process – from the moment a potential customer adds a product to their cart they should be prompted to view their cart or continue shopping. Timing out customers, adding unnecessary fields in forms and only offering limited payment options are sure-fire ways to lose – or at least irritate – a customer. There are many payment options, and you should offer as many as possible, including AfterPay, PayPal, American Express and ApplePay.
Digital marketing can be overwhelming, but it does not have to be. Employing the fundamentals is underrated and underutilised – follow these key steps to increase your sales online to increase your revenue.
Lucas Cook, Founder and CEO, Co Media
