If not it's time to do something about it. E-sales continue to have double-digit growth. The convenience of shopping anywhere, finding great prices and #smartphone adaption all contribute to this growth. Whether you sell products, services or or a restaurant; you too can leverage more sales from your website.
B2C reports that there has been double-digit growth in eCommerce for eleven straight quarters. (http://www.business2community.com/marketing/social-combined-ecommerce-empowers-smaller-brands-compete-globally-0823636#!CmUbF)
The internet is a gateway to more customers than could ever walk in a physical store.
I have said before, every business requires a website, it isn't optional. Customers have completed 60% of their buying process before making contact with the business. Your customers research online before ever contacting a business. They research products, services and price. They are todays informed customer.
Using your website to drive store traffic may be your main objective for having a website. But do you want to loose sales of customers who don't have the time to come to your physical store or who are too far away? You can create your brand reputation for service even with online customers. Amazon has proven that with breadth of offering, convenience and a seller grading system. Their reputation and innovative strategies work together to build customer satisfaction and repeat sales.
Social media is a powerful tool in promoting your brand and website. Savy, cash strapped business turn to social media to fast track their web traffic for sales. Social marketing efforts can be an economical way to reach a wide large audience. Be strategic in your selection of social marketing platforms so your efforts are focused on the ones that will deliver the best results in the shortest time. Not every business will benefit equally on Facebook. Or it could be that your business operations or offers arenot suited for Twitter.
Pinterest can be a strong platform for developing sales. It has 25 million users who are primarily female. J.Crew believes in the power of Pinterest to integrate with ecommerce and posted their catalog with over 60,000 products to Pinterest. Small businesses and brands can learn from J.Crews' strategy.
Esty and Stoneny are emerging as great ecommerce platforms for start-ups. Zulley and Fancy are ecommerce sites that combine flash sale sites. The influence of social media is seen in the design of their sites.
Targeting your audience with a wellbuilt Pay-per-click (PPC) and remarketing campaign are the fasted ways you can drive more visitors to your site. Conventional marketing should be included. Online, in person, phone support all play a role in building your business.
Social strategies should be used as a supplimentary tool for building brand and Google ranking. Honestly review your company's capability to execute a social campaign and PPC marketing. In-house efforts may only appear cost effective on paper. Hiring a professional experienced with setting up PPC may be the more cost effective delivering a larger number of qualified customers quicker.
Determine your budget and what your truely can do yourself effectively. Emerging brands can build a successful ecommerce site with minimal spending. This is not to diminish the investment you should make in your website an online marketing. Ecommerce success requires a well built site that has the content, navigation and calls-to-action supported by strategic marketing efforts.
Ready to dig in and work on building your ecommerce site?
