This post originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com - #Growing Your Business
Using these marketing tricks, there’s light at the end of the funnel.
3 min read
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Whether you’re a novice e-commerce entrepreneur or a veteran in the space, it’s a good idea to continuously set new, higher sales goals. Greater sales translate to greater benefits for your company.
But the rules for how to increase sales aren’t necessarily one-size-fits-all. There are numerous variables to consider, such as product offering, existing customer base and customer demographics. It’s natural, too, for businesses to go through ups and downs, which requires entrepreneurs to keep an eye on e-commerce and purchasing trends and adjust ccordingly. After all, tried-and-true methods may have worked in the past, but eventually, the same old strategies can lose their touch.
Consumer habits tend to change quickly, especially as far as e-commerce. Here are four marketing tricks that could help you bring in a new wave of sales and revenue.
Prove your site is trustworthy
Concerns over cybersecurity have risen exponentially in recent years, which makes it more important than ever for e-commerce entrepreneurs to make their websites secure and even display badges reflecting their relationships with security providers (such as Norton Secured, Google Trusted Store, Verisign, McAfee Secure or BBB Accredited Business).
Think mobile-first and utilize video
Customers are not limiting themselves to shopping from their computers; instead, they’re increasingly using their mobile phones and tablets to make purchases online. This is especially the case for millennials. And it’s also why video demonstrations are great e-commerce tools: Not only do they often encourage consumers to stay on the site longer, but they can also increase engagement no matter which kind of device they’re shopping from. With video, you can showcase how a product works, and this is especially useful for new or unique products.
Create a sense of urgency
Amazon.com mastered many tricks, and the ability to create a sense of urgency in their listings is one of them. Merchants on Amazon know that if you enter an inventory of less than 20 items, the product page will show potential customers the number of items remaining, which can trigger someone to quickly make the purchase before they miss out. Inventories are often kept artificially low to take advantage of this trick.
Another trick that creates a sense of urgency is to offer deadlines with a countdown timer to hook potential buyers who might be on the fence. When it comes to timing, it’s also useful to let people know that if they finalize an order by a certain time, they will receive it before the weekend.
Send abandoned cart reminders
Depending on your customer base, you want to proceed with caution with this one, but it can be extremely beneficial to send emails to customers who abandoned their carts before finalizing a purchase. They’ll be reminded of the product they were considering (make sure to include a photo), and you can even include discount codes or other incentives to buy it that day.
