Whether you are just beginning your e-commerce adventure or you already have an online store, you cannot succeed if you cannot lure in customers to your business. This seems easier said than done because it can be immensely time-consuming and difficult for any business to acquire customers. There are a horde of marketing and advertising methods at the disposal of companies these days, thanks to digital media. There are numerous techniques and tricks that can be used for getting traffic to your website and without burning a hole in your budget.
Here are just some of the best advertising and marketing techniques that businesses can implement for attracting their target audience and developing long-term relationships with customers:
1. A beautiful website
The very first thing that your business needs is a beautiful website. Remember that first impression is the last impression and your visitors will not be convinced to stay on your website if it doesn’t look well. It is essential to understand that it takes just 2 to 3 seconds for the users to decide if they are interested in the business and its products. Therefore, your website has to be such that it appeals to them and gets them to see you as trustworthy and reliable.
2. Social media activities
One of the channels that allow you to promote and advertise your brand and products free of cost is social media. Sure, you may eventually have to pay for ads, but your presence on the social media networks isn’t going to cost you a dime. The key to succeed on social media is to ensure you are offering quality and relevant content to your audience. You want to make people come to you, which means you need to be outstanding and interesting. If you are successful, you will have an excellent marketing channel at your disposal that will not cause you any financial difficulties. If you aren’t sure of how to go about social media, these tips can help:
- Post regularly: Develop a routine of posting regularly to keep yourself on the minds of your customers. However, don’t post unnecessarily because that’s going to end up annoying your audience and this is the last thing you want.
- User engagement: In order to catch the attention of your users, you should ask them questions, respond to their comments, request their feedback and engage them in conversations pertaining to any hot topic and not just your business.
- Channel selection: There are a plethora of social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc. and you should opt for those that can work well for your business. Rather than trying to maintain a presence on all, stick to the top few that cater to your target audience.
- Use graphics: Statistics show that posts that contain images are 50% more likely to engage users rather than just text. Incorporate images in your post for getting the best response.
3. Customer service
Outstanding customer service is another great weapon that you can use for luring in more customers. You have to remember that satisfied clients can offer you the best possible promotion. Hence, you should aim at offering a remarkable experience to your users, which will convince them into coming back. Research shows that about 45% of the customers abandon transactions if their questions and concerns aren’t addressed promptly and properly. This means that you have to be present for your customers and provide them answers to their inquiries and queries. Whether you are responding to customers on social media or on phone, you have to be helpful, nice and friendly because your goal is to build a rapport with them. The power of word of mouth marketing cannot be and should not be underestimated.
4. Email marketing
This is an effective and cheap solution for attracting customers. Sending emails will create a positive attitude among customers because you keep them apprised of your activities. Customers remember the emails you send them, as long as they have the right content. Here are some tips for effective email marketing:
- Send emails about discounts and promotions.
- Send emails for informing about upcoming or new products
- Send some tips or information concerning your products that have been purchased by the customer
- Send them emails containing a list of products related to those they have already purchased.
Emails can also serve as a reminder to customers about your brand name in case they have forgotten. You can send customers special deals and packages via email as well. Let them know when you are organizing a sale or something similar.
5. Announcing promos and discounts
Who doesn’t love discounts and promos? Even if someone isn’t in the mood to shop, these words alone are enough to get their juices moving. As a matter of fact, the word ‘free’ is known to cause excitement among people, which is usually associated with positive emotion. How can you tempt clients to shop with you? Offer them discount coupons. These can be provided to new clients for encouraging them to make a first purchase and to loyal clients as a reward for their faithfulness. Giving special treatment can also go a long way in keeping the clients happy.
There are other promotions that you can also offer, such as free delivery deal and codes for a specific time period or for others above a specific amount. Furthermore, you can also offer cross promotions, which means teaming up with other firms and businesses to expand your audience. You can offer package deals with that company and get access to their customer base as well. This can work out quite well.
6. Article marketing
With a successful article marketing strategy, you will be able to get the right traffic to your website and also optimize your web pages for search engines. As long as the articles are well-crafted and submitted in major directories, you will see a large increase in visitors on your website and it will also get you better rankings in search engines.
These are some of the best advertising and marketing methods at the disposal of businesses.
