If you are an online retailer you no doubt will be aware of the value of marketing your website in the correct way to drive sales and loyalty. However there are several simple ideas that are overlooked when it comes to marketing your business in the minds of your user.
- Focus on Customer Service: By providing a world class customer service you can stand out from your competitors. You can give the ultimate in customer service by understand their needs, wants, desires and of course by always always being friendly.
- Be Customer Focused: It isn’t enough to give the best customer service, you have to have a team which eats, sleeps and breathes an ethos of putting the customer first. The team should never be about profit or time keeping (though someone should be responsible for this) they should always be driven by the customers – after all without customers you have no business.
- In Retail, the key is Detail: Oh, so corny. But you will probably remember it for that reason. What I am trying to say is dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Make sure product details and specifications are correct and upto date, the same with your images and any feeds you have. Detail will enhance your websites rankings naturally (it’s great content), put you above your competitors (better descriptions than them) and ultimately increase revenue (GOAL!!!).
- Establish your Brand and your company Values: Sounds a little odd to mention values, but it really isn’t. Most companies have a natural ethos, some have a mission statement, others just float on by with values in their heads – either way they all have a set way of working and idea of what they want to achieve, these are their values. In E-commerce your first value should be “the customer comes first” then maybe “quality of products” is second etc … make a list of your 10 key values. By clearly defining them you are defining your business and how it operates, this can make you stand out from the crowd.
- Put Quality in everything you do: Make sure everything that you do, your team does and you supply is the best it possibly can be. Do testing on everything your team does and you supply. You and your company should always strive to provide the best service everyday and each & every time your team interacts with a person (your website counts as part of your team).
- Get the best from your team: You should now begin to understand that you need to get the best out of everything, and this could mean lots more training of staff to ensure they give their best. But what else can you do to ensure they always give their best? One of the best ways to incentivise a team is to reward them with a bonus for reaching a target or a commission on each sale. But be careful this kind of thing can lead to pressure sales tactics and this is a big “no no!”.
- Do Not Procrastinate!: Sitting on your hands humming and ahh-ing gives your competitors an advantage because you are not moving forward, you become a spectator sat on the fence. So get down before you give your backside some splinters, make a decision and go with it – if it doesn’t work try another way. What ever you do, the world is moving fast, so don’t stop moving!
- It isn’t quantum physics: Selling things has been happening since the dawn of man, well it started with bartering as we see it today. Anyway to be blunt, people buy an item from you, you are selling it at cost+margin make sure you do the maths and you are making a profit. There is nothing like a business loosing money to bring team spirit down with a bump.
- Get and Use, Facts and Information: Basically this means analyse any data about your site you can get your hands on, and your competitors if you can. Use the information to define and refine the shopping experience for the user. By analysing the information you can diagnose potential problems and fix them before it becomes a problem. You can also see “hotspots” and replicate them to make the most of your site’s real estate.
- Enjoy Yourself!: The journey that is SEO is one that means you have to work hard, but you should also play hard. Take yourself and your team out whenever you can, there is nothing like a few drinks down the local (pub) to get colleagues nattering and increase team spirit and it will help your team to bond and grow together. It also means you will end up with a team that is well rounded and loves their boss, because they respect their staff and treat them well.
