How To Find Ecommerce Clients for a New Online Store: 8 Effective Strategies
- October 9, 2023
- Zaktualizowano 31 Sierpnia 2023
If you have launched a new online store, you are likely starting from zero. Luckily, by employing the right strategies, you can skyrocket your business in no time. Here’s how.
Have you recently launched your very own ecommerce store? If so, congratulations are in order. You’ve taken the first step towards what promises to be a rewarding journey. The next step is to figure out how to find ecommerce clients for your new store. Fortunately, the future in the ecommerce industry is bright, and comprehensive reports paint an optimistic picture.
The Statista Research Department recently reported a 53% growth projection for ecommerce sales from 2023 to 2027 – $490.4 billion. Nonetheless, despite the market offering a welcoming opportunity for small businesses, that is not enough to thrive in it. Companies eager to sell online must build strong strategies to survive the competition. So, let’s explore eight effective strategies you can leverage to acquire your first customers.
Key highlights
- Your ecommerce website is your virtual storefront, and its visual appeal can directly affect customer engagement and conversions.
- Optimizing your ecommerce website through SEO techniques helps boost your website visibility and acquire organic traffic.
8 strategies to boost traffic to your ecommerce business and win over paying customers
Your ecommerce success hinges on your ability to drive traffic to your online store and convert visitors into loyal paying customers. The good news? That’s entirely achievable with the right strategies in place. Here are eight effective strategies to find ecommerce clients.
Strategy #1: Take advantage of your unique selling points
A reality every ecommerce entrepreneur must accept is that there are likely others out there offering products similar to yours. Knowing this, your goal is to prevent potential clients from choosing the competitors over you. But how? The answer lies in uncovering the value you offer that others don’t.
Take a moment to ponder and ask yourself these questions:
- What can I do differently from my competitors?
- Can I offer better delivery options?
- Do I offer more payment options than the typical ecommerce store?
- Can I provide rock-solid guarantees on my products?
- Are my products organic or eco-friendly?
- Do I produce a one-of-a-kind product or service?
To gain a winning edge over the competition, you must pinpoint that one thing – the standout feature that sets your brand apart. Once you’ve honed in on what makes you unique, consistently emphasize it across your website and business page on social media platforms. Make it a part of your brand identity that ecommerce clients associate with your store.
Strategy #2: Make your virtual storefront shine
People form opinions based on how your website looks, and if it doesn’t appeal to them, they might not engage with your business or make a purchase. Therefore, to succeed online, you need a storefront that attracts and retains ecommerce clients. Remember that an outdated website can lead to slow loading times, poor user experiences and security vulnerabilities.
While there are many strategies to explore to optimize your online store, here are a few simple things you should consider.
- Invest in high-quality photography because compelling visuals make products more appealing and drive better conversions.
- Craft persuasive product descriptions and clearly communicate your products’ benefits, features and unique selling points.
- Prioritize accessibility to make your website usable for potential customers, including those with disabilities.
If you need assistance optimizing your store, you can opt for WAcademy’s additional web services. We can integrate analytics, live chat, promotional pop-ups (e.g., for the upcoming Black Friday) and many other great functionalities to ensure your virtual storefront shines and drives sales.
Strategy #3: Optimize your website for search engines
Search engines are pivotal in making your ecommerce store discoverable by your target market. They employ complex algorithms to scan and index websites to provide internet users with relevant query results.
To boost exposure and acquire organic (non-paid) traffic to your website, you must make your website discoverable in the search results through search engine optimization (SEO).
Whether you do SEO yourself or outsource the responsibility to a third party (e.g., a marketing agency), consider the following SEO aspects.
- Keyword research: Identify the words and phrases potential ecommerce clients use to look for your products or services.
- On-page optimization: Optimize your website’s content, including titles, headings, meta descriptions and images, with your chosen keywords.
- Quality content creation: Craft informative, engaging and relevant content that satisfies search engine algorithms and resonates with your audience.
- Mobile optimization: Ensure mobile responsiveness and user-friendliness for users on mobile devices to appease search engine algorithms that often prioritize mobile-friendly sites in search rankings.
- Link building: Acquire high-quality backlinks from reputable websites to boost your site’s authority and credibility.
- Site speed and user experience: Improve your website’s loading times and overall user experience as search engine algorithms favor fast, user-friendly sites.
Strategy #4: Engage audiences with strategic email marketing
Building a loyal customer base is a cornerstone of ecommerce success, and one highly effective way to achieve this is through email marketing – one of the most important forms of ecommerce marketing. It’s a direct line of communication with your potential customers, a way to build relationships, nurture leads and convert curious subscribers into paying, satisfied customers.
But where do you start? Begin by reaching out to your immediate network – family, friends and anyone who believes in your business and is eager to support you. Next, harness the power of your website to expand your email list further.
Create opportunities for website visitors to sign up for emails, and make it enticing by offering incentives, such as discounts or exclusive access to valuable information that addresses their needs or interests.
Once your email list starts growing, follow these three tips to drive engagement and conversions.
- Segment your email list into relevant groups based on customer preferences, behaviors or demographics.
- Craft targeted campaigns that resonate with specific groups of subscribers.
- Offer value beyond promotional content by answering questions, providing customer service or sharing your expertise through tips and content that position your brand as an authority in your niche.
Strategy #5: Make yourself visible on social media
With many people spending a substantial portion of their day on social media, use the opportunity to showcase your products, build your brand and engage with potential customers.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest are popular choices for ecommerce. To harness the power of social media to your advantage, create social media profiles on your preferred social network.
Once you’ve chosen the right platform or platforms, implement the following strategies to utilize social media to your advantage effectively.
- Create engaging content by crafting visually appealing posts that attract and engage your target audience
- Launch paid adverts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram using powerful ad tools to reach a wider audience.
- Collaborate with influencers and build a community of brand ambassadors to boost exposure to a new audience and drive sales.
Strategy #6: Invest in high-quality advertising
If you aim to scale your efforts and double your impact, paid advertising can be the answer. With paid ads, you can expand your reach to more people and drive traffic and conversions faster than using organic (i.e., non-paid) methods alone.
You can leverage two popular channels to advertise your ecommerce store and acquire more sales. You could use Google Adwords. Google Adwords, also called Search Ads, lets you display your product ads on Google Search and its partner sites. At the same time, you could also leverage social media advertising. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer advertising tools for businesses looking to launch ad campaigns.
Strategy #7: Utilize content marketing to the max
Imagine you own a gardening supply store, for example. Instead of just urging website visitors to buy gardening tools, you could create blog posts and videos about how to grow a beautiful garden, what plants thrive in different seasons or how to deal with common gardening problems. This is a great way to inform those who love gardening that you are knowledgeable and trustworthy.
Over time, visitors will become more familiar with your brand as they return to your content and read your blogs or watch your videos. The magic of great content is that it builds trust and loyalty. And once you become the go-to resource for all things gardening, your readers are likely to trust you when looking to buy gardening supplies as well.
One way to achieve that your clients know and trust you is through blogging. Create a blog on your ecommerce website where you regularly publish informative and engaging articles addressing your customers’ pain points. If you are not an experienced content writer but wish to elevate your blog, don’t hesitate to outsource this responsibility to a seasoned copywriter.
Don’t miss out on the opportunities presented by guest blogging either. This involves creating content for websites that your potential customers might visit in a bid to tap into a well-established audience and position yourself as an industry authority.
Strategy #8: Don’t be shy to share positive feedback
Trust is a major factor in digital marketing for converting interested prospects into paying customers. And one of the most potent tools that ecommerce businesses can use to build trust is social proof. Social proof involves demonstrating to prospects that your products or services are well-liked by real customers. This is a sure way to ensure your clients trust and return to you.
Whether via phone calls or emails, begin collecting reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers. Be sure to seek permission to use their comments on your website. You could also use before-and-after images, case studies or success stories that demonstrate the impact of your products.
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