Marketing Tip 1: Build a Website
As people become more computer and internet literate, virtually everyone has a website, and so should you. Having a website can help to legitimize your business. It can also make the company and its products and services more likely to pop up in searches online.
In addition to this, websites act as a central hub, providing information customers might otherwise have a difficult time getting on their own. By answering these questions, companies reduce uncertainty and increase the likelihood of a purchase. It’s also a great place to add social media links so potential customers can keep in touch. Many companies also add their online stores to their websites.
There are easy ways to build websites on platforms like WordPress. However, if you fail to use the right platform for hosting, the website may run slowly and crash frequently. To prevent this from happening research hosting companies using Google. Most services are user-friendly, easy to upgrade, offer unlimited storage, and provide excellent 24/7 support.
How to Get Started
There are many different web hosts out there. Finding the one that caters to your specific needs is easier than you may think. With sites like webs.com and wix.com, the task of starting a beautiful website has never been so easy. With their drag and drop platforms, you can have a website complete with all the bells and whistles in the space of just one day. They also have great annual starter plans to get you started.
Marketing Tip 2: Create an Online Store
As more people consume information and make purchases online, not having an online store is likely to cost you a lot of money. By building an online store, even local businesses with one physical store in the middle of nowhere can make ten times the sales all around the world. Customers nearby will also appreciate the ease of making their purchases online.
Online stores also provide free advertising, and once again help companies to rank highly when potential customers look for goods to meet their needs. Alongside an online store attached to a website, companies can consider using major platforms like Facebook, Amazon, and eBay.
How to Start
Most Web Servers offer hosting for online stores. If you are not HTML savvy, your webmaster can get this going for you. All it takes is a little know how. The important thing to remember is to be clear. The structure of your store should be defined and to the point with all links going directly down the sales funnel.
Many web stores these days have links that do not take you where you thought you were going. Your call-to-action buttons should also look like exactly what they are. There is nothing that will drive a potential customer away faster than a web store that is hard to use.
Marketing Tip 3: Make Online Purchases Easy
Being able to order products and services online is one of the greatest conveniences of the modern era. Even restaurants like Pizza Hut let customers order online and either deliver it to their door or let them pick it up at the store. Yet many online stores struggle with making sales.
Why? Because the checkout section is complicated and full of distractions. Eliminate all the bells, whistles, and hoops to jump through at checkout. Don’t force customers to create accounts, or restrict payment options. And try not to run ads on that page. Your competitor just might run off with your customers by showing them a better option.
Where to Focus Your Attention
Make the checkout process smooth by exercising restraint when it comes to things like “Customers who bought this item also liked…” and related strategies. A clean visual approach and no distractions cuts down on hemming and hawing, and the possibility of a changed mind and an abandoned purchase on the buyer’s part.
Try offering packages as an alternative to attempting to chain purchases together. Bundling related products and offering a discount on the combined purchase incentivizes customers to explore your full catalog. A good example is Adobe, which bundles its pdf readers and editors in its software store.
Marketing Tip 4: Add Your Business to Maps
An online store is great, but a brick and mortar building still has its purposes. How? The building itself provides free marketing 24/7, especially if it faces a main street. But more importantly, you can add a brick and mortar building to Google maps. This makes your business more likely to come up in local searches. This is especially important for businesses that can only offer services locally, such as carpenters, plumbers, and caterers.
If you work from home, then this is still an option. Simply use the address of your home office. For companies providing services, people are more likely to call than show up anyway. Be sure to add your number and other important contact information to make you easy to reach, along with a link to your website.
Often times, Google may ask for pictures of the work site. You can instead use these pictures to showcase your work whether it’s delicious dishes, beautiful hardwood floors, or a great paint job.
Where To Go To Get Started
To make use of the Google business site, you will need to start a business account. Here Google will let you enter all your information and they will automatically add you to Google maps, with space for adding custom photos during the registration process. This service is completely free and in exchange, Google gets to remain current on business listings. You can’t beat free, which takes us to our next tip.
Marketing Tip 5: Give Away Stuff for Free
Giving away free stuff sounds like a great way to lose money, not increase sales, but you can use free goodies to rope customers in. This is why many apps and software companies allow trial versions that are restricted, only last for a certain period of time, or both. Big companies like Microsoft and Spotify do this all the time, and it’s a great strategy for smaller businesses who can afford to do the same.
If you’re not able to give stuff away on a large scale, then consider giving away free samples to key influencers in return for an honest review. With the right incentives, many of these people may also become brand ambassadors and help to push your brand to their audience. They can also do this through affiliate marketing.
Example
In Covington Georgia, a roadside vendor offered “free” homemade wine. The wine was free, it turned out, only if you bought a lemon for five dollars. That is an example of how the word “free” brings people running. When you print the word “free,” you get everyone’s attention. Offer the free item, then while they are there, you can give them your specials on the items you are selling.
Do not be too pushy, as that can make customers take the free item and leave your site. Instead make the offers too good to pass up and let them speak for themselves. 90% of the time, customers will want to hear more if a deal is enticing enough.
Conclusion
I do hope that these 5 ways to increase sales will help you to grow your business. If you would like 45 more suggestions, then head over to my website where you can pick up a free copy of my book 50 Ways To Increase Your Sales Today!
I wish you and your business all the very best of luck.