Sending daily emails and posting ten times a day on Facebook? Not the best way to win over your customers. Most businesses want to make more sales, but few of them know how to go about it. If you’re not careful, your internet marketing strategy could come across as more spammy and annoying than anything else. If you want to amp up your sales without all the pestering, these are the B2C online marketing tips you need to know.
1. Know Your Customer
Before initiating any online marketing strategy, you need to start by getting to know your target audience. If you don’t, you’ll end up with marketing that’s unfocused and ineffective. You need to find out what topics interest them, how they use your product or service, what kind of information they like to consume and what they need to know before making a purchase decision. Once you can answer these questions, you’ll be able to create content that naturally draws leads to your brand.
2. Know Their Online Habits
Because we’re talking about setting up a sales-driven online marketing strategy, you also need to be thinking about how your ideal customers are spending their time online. Which social media platforms do they use the most? How do they like to receive their information? How are they finding your website? Without this information, you won’t be able to share your content in the right place, or at the right time for potential customers to find it.
3. Educate Them
Your target audience has questions, concerns and problems surrounding your product or service, and they need solutions for them. You should find out what these areas of concern are and then provide them with helpful, educational information they can reference. Pursuing this step will position your brand as an industry expert that they would feel comfortable purchasing from.
4. Provide Value
When customers feel valued, they’re likely to remain loyal to your brand. You can show potential and current customers that you value them by providing something of value in return. If a website visitor expresses interest in your product or service, give them a free e-book. If you have a group of loyal customers, send them a coupon for free shipping on their next order. These small gestures can make customers feel appreciated so they’ll spread the word – and keep returning.
5. Follow up
Following up with new customers through email is important, but you should also be emailing your pre-existing customer base. Why? Well, you’ll earn a higher ROI from your marketing from repeat customers. Also, if you can turn your repeat customers into brand loyalists, not only will they continue to buy your products for themselves, they’ll also encourage their family and friends to do the same. These social recommendations cost you nothing, but will earn you a whole lot of sales. You can get these kinds of results by sending thank you emails, follow up emails, discounts, specials, and content that you think will interest them.
6. Interact
Part of having a strong online marketing strategy is engaging with your current and potential customers through social media. Doing so will build stronger relationships with your customers and encourage more sales. But make sure you avoid the all-too-common trap of making every single post about your brand. People just get tired of it. Instead, share topically related information that your customers would be interested in. Also, respond to your followers and fans when they comment! No one likes to be ignored.
7. Measure Your Marketing
Even if you follow through with each of these steps, if you aren’t measuring your marketing efforts you could be jeopardizing all of that time and effort. Tracking how your marketing is performing is the only way to gauge whether or not your marketing efforts are having the effect you intended. If they aren’t, you’ll catch it and you’ll know which improvements to make – and that’s valuable stuff.
If you want to earn more sales for your business online, contact GreenHouse Agency today for a free consultation. We’ve got the online marketing strategies that will get you there.
November 8, 2016