Read Time: 4 minutes
TLDR
- For any business looking for a path toward growth, eCommerce is the place to be.
- Blog and social media content can help you break into your audience’s virtual market space and offer your company’s solutions to them.
- Use automated marketing tools, which make it possible to generate and send follow-up emails based on real-time interactions on a website.
- Social media influencers can expose new products to their online audiences through photo, video and written testimonials.
- Encourage customers to be ambassadors. Referral bonus programs and personalized discount codes encourage customer loyalty.
- These tips work best when integrated to a cohesive digital marketing strategy.
No matter which sector of the market you look at, eCommerce business is booming. From traditional consumer products to B2B sales, the digital space is growing at a double-digit pace each year, representing a market with sales totaling over $500 billion in the US. For any business looking for a path toward growth, that makes eCommerce the place to be.
Just having an online sales presence isn’t enough to capitalize on all of that growth, however. There’s a whole lot of work that businesses need to put into building a successful eCommerce venture, and plenty of things that can go wrong along the way. That’s because running an eCommerce website requires technical skill, marketing expertise and customer service excellence to thrive in a crowded market.
Here’s a guide on how to grow your eCommerce business – from common issues that you might encounter to tips on boosting traffic and sales.
From The Ground Up
The first thing that anyone running an eCommerce business must understand is the kinds of problems they may encounter that will hinder growth. There are a wide range of technical issues, traffic flow problems, and customer retention challenges that simply make running an eCommerce website difficult, particularly for the common business owner without extensive technical knowledge.
That’s why it’s critical to make sure that you work with a trusted web design partner to help you choose the right technology and methods to form the basis of your venture. The list of potential pitfalls is almost limitless, but an experienced design firm can help you steer clear of trouble and get started on the right foot.
Establishing Authority
One of the most effective ways to grow an eCommerce business is to establish your company as an authority in the sectors you serve. Social media content can help you break into your audience’s virtual market space and offer your company’s solutions to them. You’ll want to consider your audience when creating a marketing strategy and social media presence, as well as your branding to span across your site and social.
It’s a great idea to offer an informative, well-written blog that contains industry insight, product guides, how-to features, and insider knowledge that consumers can’t find elsewhere. That will make your eCommerce site a research and information destination and a go-to retailer for in-the-know shoppers.
Making The Most Out of Each Visit
Sometimes, the best way to grow an eCommerce business is to maximize sales to existing customers or visitors. Today, automated marketing tools make it possible to generate and send follow-up emails based on real-time interactions on an eCommerce website, including:
- Recommended product suggestions
- Abandoned shopping cart reminders
- Notifications about new products and guides
- Customized discounts and sales
Social Media Influencer Campaigns
Today, almost every new consumer trend originates somewhere on social media. eCommerce businesses can take advantage of that by getting their products into the hands of social media influencers, who will expose those products to their online audience through photo, video or written testimonials. For example, the ideal social media influencer for an online specialty meat market would be a grill master or chef who shares mouth-watering photos of their creations on Instagram.
Smaller eCommerce businesses can try reaching out to more targeted micro-influencers with campaigns that seek to reach small market segments. No matter the budget or market, there’s probably an influencer out there for it.
Encourage Customers to be Ambassadors
Another reliable method eCommerce businesses can use to drive growth is to give existing customers incentives to spread the word. Referral bonus programs and personalized discount codes encourage customer loyalty and give them good reasons to bring their friends and family in for a look. Best of all, each successful referral round can yield a larger surge of traffic and conversions, which can drive exponential growth over short periods of time.
Putting it All Together
By now it should be obvious that there are plenty of ways to grow an eCommerce business, but they all require planning, solid execution, and ongoing attention. While all of the methods outlined here are manageable, they will require integration into a master marketing plan that ties them all together and eliminates duplicative efforts.
Comit Developers can help you design, build and maintain a stand-out eCommerce website, as well as identify which strategies will work best to keep you growing for years to come. Remember, your success is our success, so let us lend your site our expertise today!
