As the country continues to feel the effects of the cost of living crisis, many businesses are looking at different ways they can attract new customers and increase their turnover. The fact of the matter is, the Internet and online marketing provides businesses (including yours) with the best opportunity to grow – yes – even during a recession!
The Covid-19 pandemic of the last couple of years accelerated ecommerce growth significantly, increasing sales by billions of pounds. Even after the restrictions were eased, ecommerce sales remained higher than usual. Now, as we face new challenges with soaring prices for everything from food to utilities, people are using the internet more than ever to find the best deals to make their budget stretch as far as possible.
So how can the internet be used to grow your business? There are 3 important steps.
- Number 1: Increase the number of customers
- Number 2: Increase the average spend of customers
- Number 3: Increase the number of times a customer makes a purchase
Increase any of these three areas by just 10% and you will see a 33% increase in your turnover.
Basic stuff I know, but here’s the thing, the Internet and online marketing provide you with the tools to succeed in all three areas. Here are some tips on how to effectively use online marketing to achieve the growth you need.
Increase the number of customers
You need more customers. So how do you do it? To begin with you need a website that allows you to achieve your goals and you need people to be able to find it!
If you have a physical product to sell, your website should include ecommerce functionality that allows your visitors to easily find what they need, view all the information to know whether it’s right for their needs, and buy the item without any issues. If you provide a service, your visitors should be able to gather the information they need from your website and then contact you for a quote.
If you need a new website for your business, we offer pay monthly web design packages from just £29.99pm
Once you have a website in place that advertises your products or services effectively, you need to make sure it can be found. The most effective way to achieve this is by getting onto (and then staying on) the first page of Google. To do this you must ensure your website is search engine friendly. Just making sure that your website can be viewed correctly on mobile devices is a step in the right direction, something that your web design company should include as standard. Next, you need to run a search engine optimisation campaign so that your website appears in search results for the terms that are most likely to attract visitors that convert to sales or leads.
To find out which SEO package is best for your business, visit our SEO page or request a free quote.
Another way of attracting potential customers is by using social media marketing. You can use your business profile to build a following by posting regular updates about your products, services, and industry. These updates can even be boosted using paid advertising so that they appear in front of social media users that fit your customer demographic.
Find out more about social media marketing
Increase the average spend of customers
Here are some worrying statistics.
- 1. Did you realise that a staggering 50% of visitors to the typical website leave within 8 seconds?
- 2. Did you know that only about 1% of people who visit the typical website make a purchase from or make contact with the business?
So what do these have to do with increasing the average spend of customers? Well to begin with I really hope your website isn’t typical, because to get people to buy and then spend more you need to make sure your website gives them an exceptional experience. To start with that means it must be attractive, interesting, compelling and easy to use.
In addition, if your website is ecommerce it must allow you to show your visitors special offers, associated products, discounts or reduced shipping on multiple purchases, just to name a few. If it doesn’t you are robbing yourself of the opportunity for your online shopper to increase their spend.
At the very least you must provide your visitors with information about the benefits of what you have to offer, to make sure your product or service solves their problem or meets their need. When your website does all of this they will not only buy from you, but also spend more.
In most cases the content of a website let’s it down. Writing website content that works is not as easy as you may think. Most business people are good at running their business but not so hot on writing website copy. So you should consider using a professional copywriter with SEO experience. You will find that effective website content will transform the profitability of your website.
Find out more about how professional copywriting can make a difference.
Increase the number of times a customer makes a purchase
This is mainly about giving your customer the best shopping experience you can. It is a well proven adage that anyone should only be 3 clicks away from finding what they want, be it information or a specific product. That means your website must be designed and built with this in mind, including easy to navigate menus, a search facility and a simple check out process if you are selling online.
A great shopping experience and tempting reasons to return to your website will mean your customer will come back for more.
If you haven’t explored the opportunities of ecommerce now is the time to do so. If you already sell online, now is the time to check that your website is keeping up with the latest online shopping trends.
Take back control
The lesson the pandemic and cost of living crisis is teaching us all is that we can’t afford to ignore or be complacent about the power of being online. The beauty of the Internet is that it is a world where perception is reality. It’s not the size of your business that matters. Instead, to be successful, the way you present your business online must be stronger than your competition. If not, then it will be them who grow their business and not you.
How we can help
We are specialists in using the Internet and online marketing to grow your business. Not only that, but we are different to most web design companies you will meet in that we focus closely on ensuring everything we do for our clients gives focuses on giving them a return on their investment. To make an enquiry contact us.
