The possibilities of digital marketing never really cease to amaze.
The prospect of gaining customers without even having to physically market the products or services is pretty amazing, to be honest. But, that is not to say that digital sales just fall from the sky like rain. Just like the rain, one must first invest the time to create a whole water cycle too.
With the growing competition every day, customers find themselves in a position where thousands upon thousands of products are simply just a few clicks away. It gets pretty hard for businesses to stand out and differentiate their products from the ocean of options. The more the competition increases the harder it gets to increase sales.
It’s safe to say, businesses need to incorporate efficient and experienced techniques that help them towards better sales and development.
Here are some tips to keep in mind, when you decide to jump into the ocean of competition and bring better sales to your business:
- Offer fewer choices
Less is more.
Surely, from an inexperienced perspective, it seems like businesses should offer all the options they could on the web for customer consideration. But, honestly, it just creates an overload of choices for the users and can harm sales due to indecision.
A user can feel overwhelmed and then get anxious as to not miss anything worth looking at. Sometimes even choosing from a rainbow of colors for a specific product, that they knew they surely wanted, can get them overwhelmed and make them abandon the search.
But that does not mean businesses shouldn’t have options at all. If there is a wide range of products, consider structuring the website or product pages in a way that offers visitors as few choices as possible. This reduces the possibility that the visitor will be overwhelmed by dozens of different products.
- Recommend the best plans or deals
Create a bandwagon effect.
This is a simple psychological effect where people feel like they are less likely to make a poor decision if various others have picked the same thing before them. They view a body of similar people as experts on a topic.
When a user notices a certain product from the pool they were choosing within as a recommended popular choice by other users, they get more confident in the purchase. It gives them a sense of community and acts as social proof for a product.
Mention the popular choices and sell them with full effect with words like “Bestsellers”, and “No. 1 choice” etc. Make the text vibrant and make sure the viewer sees it, this makes them more likely to go through with the purchase.
- Display HD images and incorporate Videos
What purpose does a chef making an elegant sly spread of the sauce beside a dish serve for the food? Nothing. They do it to create a visually pleasing first impression. When your mind already thinks this might taste spectacular, it is half convinced.
Similarly, a business needs very impressive and high-quality product images for impressions on the website. Appearances are very important in how we perceive things and if your product image is blurry to the eye it isn’t going to convince a viewer of its mind-blowing quality.
No tiny thumbnails or poorly lit shots of the services, use the best quality image. Embed product videos onto the page, include shots of the product from every possible angle, and try to use the real use of the product with context. This helps draw viewers to the website that will turn into sales.
- Include Testimonials
Today, almost all users read reviews for a product before they purchase it. So, when a business proudly has legions of satisfied customers to show off for, surely it’s easier to gain the trust of new viewers. It helps create a favorable perception of the brand and helps hesitant viewers with that push for confidence.
They are extremely persuasive and help manage a brand’s online reputation and highlight its expertise in providing said services. They make the business seem more human, relatable and build an emotional connection with the viewers.
Testimonials, regardless of, If they are good or bad, add to sales. They work as sales proof and aid in trust even when they are bad. The viewers want to feel heard in a free world today, and being transparent with customer feedback for the business will truly help drive sales.
- Offer assured money-back guarantees
Money is a very dear prospect. And one cannot blame people for being very careful with it. So, the more risk that businesses can remove from purchases, the better the chances of the sale.
Many questions arise in a customer’s mind before they commit to paying even for small purchases. Like, Why should they specifically buy this product? What if they don’t work, or if it doesn’t suit them?
The prospect of a potential loss is a very strong motivator to log off the web and not indulge. A bulletproof money-back guarantee helps assure the consumer that they will not be cheated out of their money today.
- Include Opt-In Forms and Popups
If a user is just on the fence about buying a product a well-placed opt-in offer can be the difference between swaying them from here or there when employed sparingly and strategically.
Opt-in texts like free shipping, or 10% off on first order, and various other prompts can encourage people to sign up for the brand’s newsletter, mailing list, or loyalty programs. And, can not only significantly increase the number of contacts for the brand database but also increase online sales in the short term.
Additionally, exit-intent popups are very useful to increase sales. These can be specifically set up to be triggered by site exit which helps prevent cart abandonment. So, brands get one last chance to inform the consumers about a special or premium limited offer or a promo for a freebie.
- Create Urgency
This is not essentially cheating. This is more like creating a sense of something even though it wasn’t really necessary. This is a disguised trick for persuasion.
Consumers respond positively to incentives that create a sense of urgency. Like, time-sensitive special offers to limited-edition products. A consumer would rather have it but not need it than need it but not have it. Thinking that a product is only available for a certain amount of time a user will feel the need to buy it now and not later.
Urgency can be instilled through more ways like giving a financial incentive to customers who commit to a purchase right away, such as free shipping or a discount. And displaying these deals on the homepage of the website and in advertising campaigns helps make sure they don’t go unnoticed as well.
The human mind gets very anxious very quickly, and seeing these prompts a user feels like they might get left behind. So, they are compelled to run.
Conclusion:
Digital marketing strategies like better search engine optimization, strong Call-to-Action messages, pay-per-click, and ad extensions all help to strengthen the business outlook and bring growth for the business in the long run. So, the effort for bringing audits and all these changes for the website is always worth the effort.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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