The pandemic caught everyone by surprise. And a great lesson that many people have learned from this was: changes happen all the time, so it’s important to prepare for new scenarios, always. The lockdown, for example, created new habits in relation to purchases and use of the digital market. Online sales also intensified.
The e-commerce sector grew by 75% amid the pandemic, according to the Modern Consumer. We can say that the digital market is on the rise and conquering more and more demanding consumers who are, daily, after the best products and the best promotions.
Physical stores suffered a lot from this since buying in the physical market is no longer a priority. According to research by KPMG, in this pandemic moment, security is the main criterion for purchase, in addition to cost-effectiveness and ease of purchasing the product.
Understand what the digital market
Digital Market represents the existence and online presence of many internet businesses. It is a compilation between: market, marketing and entrepreneurship. Generally, retail stores build their physical space, but create a presence in the digital environment. These stores, for example, increase their number of customers when they launch their products on the internet.
Stores that are fully or partially in the digital market are known as e-commerce. With a new global scenario, the digital market has been developing without many limits. Online sales grew 47% in the first half of 2021. According to the Ebit/Nielsen survey, this is the highest increase in the sector in 20 years. A significant change, don’t you think?
15 tips to conquer the digital market
There are several strategies for online sales. The more creative and innovative, the faster they reach and retain the consumer, right?
In this article, we list 15 tips that can help you improve your online sales within the digital market. Shall we?
1 – Know your target audience
Do you know your target audience? Peter Drucker, one of the world’s greatest leaders, said a sentence that sums up the importance of knowing your target audience:
“The goal of marketing is to know and understand the consumer so well that the product or service molds to him and sells alone”.
It is important to know and value the habits and individual qualities of each client. Your business exists for them and because of them, don’t forget that. The more you know about your audience, and the more connected to them, it is better for your business. Does this mean that the more audience, the greater your chance of sales? Not always. For online sales, the tip is to focus and deeply know your target audience.
2 – Win the audience with videos
A survey conducted by Hubspot in 2020 found that more than 50% of consumers prefer video content to other forms of content. This new trend makes non-reader audiences stick to the content. You can make videos about:
Demonstration: in this format, you can show a certain product and describe it. This way you can help the customer build a good relationship with the purchased product.
Tutorial: Tutorials are great for improving the customer experience with your brand. If the customer has any questions about the use and functionality, the tutorial can help.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions is an automated way to help customers with the most common questions. They are usually short texts, but it is worth recording a video answering the main questions about a particular product. Use creativity and make a cool video.
Brand presentation: You may not know it, but consumers love to connect with a brand. So don’t be afraid to talk about yours. Create a creative, persuasive audiovisual and with a language very close to the persona.
In addition to increasing the company’s engagement and authority, the use of videos helps to develop the sales sector. Create an account on YouTube, it is today the most accessed video platform in the world, in addition to belonging to the Google group, which favors ranking. Catch the tip!
3 – Ensure a safe purchase to the customer
Thinking about digital security for online sales is paramount. Demonstrate that your site is safe for both visits and purchases. If you are going to sell online, in other words, if you are going to bet on e-commerce, your website is your showcase. When entering a website and seeing it full of bugs, the consumer has the same reaction as if they arrived at a physical store and it seems chaotic.
A chaotic scenario generates insecurity and, consequently, rejection rates.
Buying online is still an action that makes many people insecure, so invest in avoiding these difficulties. Thus, you increase your chances of sale and must conquer customer trust and loyalty.
Check if your site has any bugs; if it asks for any data that is not necessary or any other process that generates distrust. Check out the links, make sure your site is clear, with an organized layout and well-explained information. On the page where the customer will register the card, provide information about purchase certifiers or a security seal.
A valuable tip is the use of tools that can help you in this step. This is the case with the Google Source Console, it is responsible for analyzing all the technical parts of a website and from there, it will provide reports about what is hindering the performance of your page.
4 – Don’t deceive the customer
That temptation to sell something “for billing”, that generates complaints after delivery, can ruin your digital strategy and your reputation within your segment. And this can be a one way road.
Sales pages with too many promises. All mental triggers in a single paragraph. Unrealistic pricing. Some pranks that any entrepreneur, no matter how honest, might be tempted to fall for just to “hit this month’s goal”. Is all this worth it? Think carefully. To stand out in the digital market, it’s not worth it.
Focus on the medium term, on the repurchase, on the qualification of that customer and also on the positive advertising that a single consumer can provide you. And as tempting as it may seem, don’t try to trick him with fancy promises.
The most important thing is of all of this: fulfill what you are offering. The offer in your ads and landing pages must necessarily reflect the reality of your product’s benefits. Nothing more, nothing less, okay?
Be honest about the delivery time, give real details and be willing to answer all questions and be ready to solve the problems that have occurred (even if they do not concern you directly, such as those related to delivery, for example, whether it is a physical or distributed product by digital platforms).
Too many companies ignore customer experience and try to build a presence in the digital marketplace based on fraud. Fortunately, the modern consumer is quite smart and soon looks for ways to disqualify these deceptive companies. An example is Reclame Aqui, a brazilian company where the customer can leave all their dissatisfaction publicly notified.
5 – Have an optimized and working website
Always remember the mantra of this article: your website is your store. Just like a physical store, think of the consumer when you’re inside. How is the organization, visual and access to information? This is all part of the User Experience. Having a well-structured website generates credibility, loyalty and increases your chances of selling in the digital market.
What you should keep an eye on:
Observe if the pages are intuitive: when the user enters the page, does he know where to click? Or is he lost with so much information? It is important to have a balance between aesthetics and content information. It is recommended to prioritize the organization and coherence of information.
Easy-to-understand content: be direct, objective and speak about your products in an attractive way that presents the characteristics of what you offer and the benefits it will bring to the person’s life. Never lie, avoid far-fetched terms and clichés.
Don’t forget about appearance: think of a design that matches the purpose of what you sell. Use colors, graphics, and images that convey a pleasant feel on the page.
6 – Invest in social networks
Only having the store’s website or a blog is not enough to conquer a place in the digital market. The company has to appear and ensure that its pages are effectively visited by potential consumers.
Being on the main social networks currently like Instagram, Facebook and Youtube is being involved with your audience and also following their pains and pleasures. This will help you in creating content for engagement. This approach is more digital, allowing a closer relationship between your brand and the customer.
You can explore different formats of content within social networks, such as videos for IGTV, stories, reels, infographics for the Instagram feed. Use this opportunity to strengthen your community.
7 – Create a community around your brand
As we mentioned, social networks are great spaces to bring together customers who are delighted by your products. People love to be a part of something that matters, have you noticed that? We see big brands out there that have an extremely engaged audience, just because they know how to do one thing: create a community within the digital market using internet marketing and personal marketing.
Making your customers feel close to you is a way to retain them and also to delight those who aren’t your consumers yet. This where we use mental triggers of reciprocity and innovation. People like to discover new things and engage with them. And how does this work in practice?
Imagine that on your Instagram account, you always create polls for the public to interact with each other, you are always present in the comments and in direct, answering questions and sending messages collecting feedback about your company, your products and services. All this keeps the audience there for a long time.
8 – Take advantage of special dates and celebrations
Take advantage of special dates to make promotions or launch a new discount coupon. There are several ways to surprise the public, one of them is through special days to make new products available, or to make a special offer. You can use the best sellers or the ones that the audience engages with the most. Keep the offer available for a few days to awaken the scarcity mental trigger.
The more the public sees that a product is special and that there is a chance to purchase it at a good price, the more they will be enticed to buy. Over time, you discover that the digital market goes together with neuromarketing and the subconscious of the modern consumer.
9 – Have an objective communication
For those who seek to increase sales and retain customers, creating a website that communicates in a clear and objective way is a key point to obtaining better results.
For this, there are many copywriting techniques that will help you and are indispensable for the digital market. Copywriting is a writing technique with a commercial focus, to convince the client to take an action. Practically, to improve writing and help customers make faster decisions on the site, you can:
- Use clear and objective titles;
- Divide the text into short paragraphs, subheadings, topics and short sentences to make reading more fluid and faster;
- Use simpler words. Avoid complex terms that will only confuse the customer.
10 – Answer customer questions
It may seem obvious, but it’s not. Many people neglect customer inquiries, or make even worse: leave the consumer with no answer at all.
To retain your customers, you have to know how to be available to them. What does that mean? That you need to know where your customer is and adapt your service to them.
Does he send questions by email? By direct from Instagram? So organize yourself for every day, at a certain time of the day to answer these questions. On the digital market, we call it personalized service for any type of communication that is not automated. And believe me, personalized communication is more effective when it comes to “search for good results”.
If your customer has a question and doesn’t get a quick answer from your company, you can be sure that in a few seconds he will look for the solution with a competitive company. A negative factor of the digital market is the wide competition and there are many e-commerces out there investing heavily in good customer relations, so try to do the same.
11 – Payment Methods
The consumer has decided to buy your product. Excellent! However, there was only one payment format that he didn’t work with. He backs out of the purchase and you’ve lost a sale and a future customer. Bad scenario, right? Payment methods in the digital market need to happen the same as in the physical world: bank payment slip; credit cards; debit cards; bank transfer; internet bank. Optimizing the customer experience is offering accessible ways for them to be able to consume with you.
Offering multiple payment methods, across multiple platforms and banks, gives your buyer the best method of how they can pay. Therefore, have you realized how important it is to be attentive in your online store?
That punctual consumer can become your customer as long as you offer all the conditions for the purchase.
12 – Work with the after-sales
The customer already knows your work, he had an exceptional shopping experience, has already recommended it to friends… and the next step? Wait until he decides to buy again? No! Your customer isn’t dead, he’s still a potential rebuy, right? Developing after-sales strategies also ensures your presence in the quality digital market.
This is your time to captivate your customer even more. And how can you do that? There are several ways:
Email Marketing: you can send an email thanking him for the purchase; a direct mailing email with related products; and emails reminding the customer to rate or give feedback on the purchase if he doesn’t do it so soon after making the purchase;
Social proof: create a feedback section on your website or put a spotlight on social networks with the public’s evaluation of your products; in this way, future clients will feel confident in your work;
Show new products or services: show other products that your company sells and that may be of interest to the customer or complement the first purchase;
Submit tutorials: remember the video tutorial? You can send content with tips and tutorials to improve the relationship between the customer and the purchased product.
13 – Seek qualification
The more you know, the better it is. Undertaking in the digital market is always being aware of the trends and growth of the moment, so seek to improve with those who are a reference in online sales and Internet Marketing. Trying to figure it all out by yourself can give you some (or several) losses.
Follow experts who deliver results! Around here, we are always producing valuable content, with tips and strategies that we apply and that we are sure of the results.
Is your niche fashion? Follow influencers and the digital market who talk about it, see which pieces are on the rise, colors and models. Don’t just focus on digital growth, think about your niche and what it is trending. And when in doubt, always prioritize a specialist.
Are you afraid to invest in any marketing strategy? Consult an expert, like us, to make sure it’s a good tactic.
14 – Get ready for the new changes in e-commerce
We mentioned earlier that due to the pandemic a lot has changed. It was a completely new scenario for all of us, right? But one lesson we learned: we must be ready for changes, because they are happening and will happen all the time. Have you ever stopped to think about what post pandemic customer behavior will be like?
Facebook conducted a survey on post-pandemic consumer behavior, and reported that 32% of consumers admitted that flexibility is a determining factor for them to stay loyal and even pay more for certain products or services.
This research was essential, because it raised some points that most companies refuse to see.
The data reinforced the need for brands to invest in customer relationships. And, more than that, companies must work with the same objective: to listen to consumers as an equal. In this way, the pandemic highlighted a marketing strategy called Human 2 Human.
Do you know what this concept means? It started to be discussed in 2013, and it concerns people and their human relationships. For brands to meet consumers’ desires to create experiences together with them, it’s important to understand how people are reacting to today’s life.
So we can see that it’s not just about numbers. Always remember customers are people and they connect emotionally with the brands they consume.
Is your business ready to think of strategies that fit on this new reality?
15 – Make tests
The digital market is not static, it is necessary to carry out several tests until you find the best way for your business. Do we have a deal? With this information about changing consumer behavior, we can conclude that sales will also change. The online sales scenario will increase even more. And if your strategic planning goals did not include increasing your online sales, now is the time to include it.
With all the tips we mentioned here, you can already rethink some of the modifications you can make. Review:
- Your target audience;
- Explore the video content format;
- Invest in internet security;
- Be real with your customer;
- Have a good structure, and if it is necessary restructure some things, do it;
- Invest in social media;
- Communicate clearly with your customers;
- Keep an eye on payment methods;
- Work with after-sales;
- Be prepared for the changes;
- Don’t get hung up on planning, do tests;
- Build customer loyalty;
- Invest in low-cost but efficient conversions;
To increase online sales you must have a good strategy, offer the needs that really matter and invest in advertising. All these strategies combined, can take your business to a new level. So, don’t forget to follow each one and keep an eye on the results, okay?
Remember that the digital market is constantly being updated, so everything you do here should also keep up with the news. What works for one business will not always work for yours. And how are you going to find that out? Testing!
