According to Forbes 8 out of 10 new businesses fail within the first 5 years. If you’re running an online business, you should understand that is more to being successful than offering excellent products or services. You also need to know how to boost your business and bring in more customers. Below are a few tips that all online businesses owners should follow keep their business up and running and avoid being another statistic.
Tip #1: Target Your Online Audience Carefully
If your business is going to be successful, you are going to need a strong, easily recognizable online presence. To build a strong customer base, you are going to need to reach various types of customers. You should think about your customer demographics and base your marketing strategies on this. You may need to target different demographics in different ways, however, when you have a strong, diverse customer base, it will be worth the work.
Tip #2: Create High-Quality Content and an Easy to Use Website
Most online business owners understand that these businesses live and die by their visibility online. Offer a unique content can be promoted on your popular blogs. “Ask the experts”, interview of people who set trends in the industry can boost your business. For instance, Oroton showcased in a blog, how the accessories they market are in best demand by fashion geeks and models. In the blog interview Australian model Candice Lake describes Signet tote bags as her perfect travel companion which creates a brand message to customers looking for bags.
Tip #3: Personalize Your Content
When people visit your site, they are going to expect a personalized web experience. Fortunately, your online business can handle this, regardless of the size. There is technology today that can generate personalized shopping selections for your customers based on their personal preferences. If you are running a large business, you can have the app built into your system. If you are just starting out, you can use smaller CRM solutions such as Zoho, Batchbook, and ContactMe. Each of these apps is very effective and they cost about $20per month to use.
Tip #4: Invest in Mobile Capabilities
Over the last few years, mobile eCommerce has been on the rise. More and more people today are using their phones to make online purchases rather than a computer. If your business is going to be successful and reach mobile users, you should invest in mobile capability. This includes creating a mobile site, apps, maps, and notification in real-time. If you are going to keep up with the competition, you need to go mobile.
Tip #5: Security Is a Must
If you are going to run a successful online business, your customers are going to need to know that their personal and financial information will be safe with you. This means having a strong security system in place. Take help of cyber security specialists where data security can be strategized reviewed and breaches of sensitive data can be prevented.
Tip #6: Reward Loyalty
Anyone can make a sale. Something that will make your business successful is to keep your customers coming back. The best way to do this is to reward your customers for their loyalty. For example, if a customer orders a product or service from your online business, you can send them an online coupon for their next purchase via email. This will show your customers that you value your business and the coupon will give your customers a reason to shop with you again. It is a win-win.
Tip #7: Integrate Social Media
According to Statista, 81 percent of Americans have a social network profile. This has gone up quite a bit over the last decade. In 2008, only 24 percent of Americans had social network profiles. As an online business owner, you can use social media to grow your business and it won’t cost you a dollar. You can create a profile for your business for free. If you want social media to work for you, you need to make it work. This means adding posts daily. The posts can be about new products, current sales, and anything else that you want your customers to know. You should post something new every day. If you have plenty of news, you can post more than once a day. You should also add pictures and videos to your social media profile. Studies have shown that people are more likely to look at a picture or click on a video than they are to read an article. If you have a strong social media presence, it can improve your online business.
Running an online business is a lot of work. If you are going to be successful, you need to engage with your customers, make them feel valued, and keep them updated on your current business news and events. Also, you need to give them a secure network to shop on so that they have peace of mind that their personal and financial information is safe. If you can do all things while successfully getting your name out there, your business should be a success.
