Running a business is a challenge, especially when competing against large-scale corporations and brands that are familiar to everyone. If you own a small business, and you’re looking to supercharge sales, there are ways to raise brand awareness and encourage customers to choose your company over others. In this guide, we’ll discuss some effective strategies to send sales soaring.
Creating a brilliant website
Websites are essential for all businesses. Even if you don’t sell products online, or you offer services, it’s critical to have a website to enable prospective customers to find out more about your brand. Consider your website your store window. You can use your site to tell people more about the business, provide information about the products or services you offer and encourage them to get in touch. If you don’t have a website or your site is dated or basic, now is the time to invest to enhance your online presence. You can build and design your own website or contact agencies that have expertise in web design. Tailor your site to suit the brand and the target market. Your website should look slick and inviting, and it should also be easy to use. Make sure that the pages are mobile-friendly, link landing pages, include high-quality images and video clips and add features to enhance user experience. Examples include live chat, personalized recommendations and FAQs pages.
When designing a new website, it’s an excellent idea to test different types of content and themes and to take a walk in your customer’s shoes. Navigate your way around the site and note down any problems or areas for improvement.
Driving traffic with SEO
SEO, search engine optimization, is a powerful digital marketing technique, which uses the popularity of search engines to drive web traffic and create leads. If you have a website up and running, but you’re struggling to attract attention, an effective SEO campaign can help you increase traffic and encourage customers to contact you. It is important to note that SEO can be beneficial for all businesses, including those that don’t sell products online. If you run a local business, for example, local SEO is proven to generate leads and raise brand awareness. Over 80% of people who perform a local search on a smartphone will either make a purchase or contact or visit the business within 24 hours.
If you’re not familiar with SEO, or you don’t have marketing experts in-house, it’s wise to consider outsourcing digital marketing. Marketing experts can draw up and implement a tailored SEO strategy for your business to help you target the right buyers, increase lead generation and conversion rates and put your brand on the map. Google alone now processes more than 60,000 searches per second. If you’re not utilizing SEO, you could be missing out on sales and unintentionally pushing prospective customers towards competitors.
Social media
Social media offers opportunities to stay in touch with friends and family, but over the years, it has evolved into an influential platform for businesses and brands. Studies suggest that around 90% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media. If you’re just getting started with social media, use market research to help you decide which apps and networks to use. Define your ideal buyer and learn about their browsing habits and social media use. Facebook has the most global users, but if you’re targeting young adults or teens, using platforms like Instagram and TikTok is more likely to help you create a buzz around your brand.
To encourage people to follow you and engage with your posts at the beginning, it’s a great idea to host competitions and giveaways. Offer users the chance to win a prize or gain access to exclusive discounts by following your account, sharing a post, tagging friends and encouraging followers to spread the word via features, such as Instagram stories. The more people who follow your page, the wider the message will go. Once you’ve crowned a winner, update your followers and encourage them to stick around by providing details of the next competition or promotion. Use posts to promote products and services and showcase the human side of the brand. Tell people more about who you are and what you stand for, and use social platforms to engage with customers and build relationships.
Customer service and support
Good customer service and responsive customer support go a long way to increasing sales, converting leads and creating positive relationships. Welcoming clients to a store, salon, restaurant or entertainment venue creates a positive first impression, being attentive can help to persuade people to take the next step and make a purchase and providing a seamless, enjoyable buying experience can set your business apart.
It is common for customers to have queries and questions when shopping in-store or online or looking for businesses that provide services. Customer support plays a critical role in the decision-making process. If a customer wants to buy a product, but they have concerns or they want more information, providing responsive support can help you to encourage them to make a purchase. If they can’t contact you, or it takes a long time to get a response, you run the risk of losing the sale. Make sure your clients have access to customer support and try to minimize waiting times. Live chat is a brilliant way to connect with customers instantly and provide rapid responses around the clock. You can click here to find out more about live chat software. It’s also beneficial to ensure that your product descriptions contain plenty of detail and to add an FAQs section. Offering telephone support is also beneficial, especially in industries where it’s advantageous to speak to an adviser rather than a machine or a chatbot, for example, the financial and legal sectors.
Positive reviews
More than 90% of consumers now read online reviews. If you have a high review score or a positive rating, this can make the difference between converting leads and losing out to rival businesses. If you don’t have many reviews, it’s beneficial to encourage customers to leave feedback and to incentivize clients to share their views. You could offer a discount on the next purchase, for example. If you have an average review score, and you’re keen to improve your rating, read the reviews you already have, take ideas on board and be proactive in addressing problems and complaints. If you own a restaurant, for example, and diners have complained about waiting too long to be seated or served their meals, consider hiring more staff during busy periods or limiting the number of covers. If customers have flagged issues related to employee behavior, for example, assistants being disinterested or rude, talk to your team and provide training.
Targeted marketing
Marketing is designed to increase brand awareness and encourage prospective customers to get in touch or spend money on products or services. Investing in marketing can be hugely beneficial, but not all campaigns are created equal. To maximize your chances of success, it’s important to focus on your target market. Choose methods that will reach the right buyers and resonate with them. Use market research to gather information about your ideal customer. You can use surveys, polls, interviews and focus groups to find out more about how people shop, how much they would spend on the products or services you offer, what sways and influences their buying decisions and how they spend their time online. The findings of market research should help you design effective marketing campaigns, set price points and add features or characteristics that make your brand stand out.
Promotions and deals
Every consumer wants to feel like they’ve snapped up a great deal. Many of us are looking for value, rather than low prices, but discounts can encourage customers to act quickly. Running promotions is a fantastic way to create a buzz around new products or special offers. When planning promotions, make sure you have sufficient stock and the ability to cope with a surge in orders, market the deal using channels and methods that will appeal to your ideal buyer, highlight the value of the offer and use persuasive language. Fear of missing out is a tactic that is often effective when trying to drive sales quickly. If you set a deadline and you use copy to provoke a sense of fear, consumers tend to act more urgently. Market your promotion as a deal or a sale that is too good to miss and use social media and email marketing to reach wider audiences.
If you run a business and sales have stalled or slumped, don’t panic. There are ways to boost sales and supercharge lead conversion rates. Make sure you have a user-friendly website, drive traffic using SEO and engage with followers and customers online. Spread the word on social media, use giveaways and promotions to drum up interest and expand your following and make sure your marketing strategy focuses on the target client. Encourage customers to shop with you by providing outstanding customer service and support, offer incentives for clients to make recommendations and leave reviews and use feedback to address issues and improve the service you provide.
