7 Tested Marketing Ideas to Pump Up Sales

7 Tested Marketing Ideas to Pump Up Sales

Image source: pixabay.com

Marketing isn’t a ‘one and done’ kind of proposition. You have to keep at it. And like most things in this world, strategies evolve. What worked great in the past may not give good results in the future. For example, Google has announced it will stop cookie tracking in 2022. Whether or not this has a direct effect on your marketing plan, you definitely want to cash in on people doing their Christmas shopping early. Keep your sales in the black by staying on top of trends.

With the holidays just around the corner, your brand needs a strong marketing campaign. No matter what type of product you’re promoting — a cutting-edge smartwatch, a subscription to a wine delivery service, or a classic pearl necklace — there are steps you can take to reliably boost views and make conversions.

Thanks to technology, virtually anyone in the entire world could be your customer. Digital marketing is critical for every single business out there. But along with a broader marketplace comes the burden of learning new ways of reaching customers: blog posts, social media, emails, pop-ups, SEO, PPC…the list can seem endless. Which ones should your brand choose? Consumers are being bombarded with advertising, so you have to make sure your marketing efforts reach the right audience — and then hold their attention.

A hot call, meaning a prospect who’s ready to buy, is every sales rep’s dream. But like most dreams, it doesn’t often match reality. Cold calls are usually low in conversions, but they’re a necessary evil. The online version of cold-calling involves broadcasting your ads on the big platforms: Google, Facebook, and Twitter. But it isn’t a waste of funds or time because this form of marketing starts building the all-important beginnings of brand awareness. Edelman trust research shows that the vast majority of consumers are far more likely to buy from a familiar brand rather than an unknown one. Regular exposure to your brand can turn your cold call into a warm one.

Warming up your audience helps, but how do you seal the deal? Read on to discover tested marketing ideas to pump up your sales.

1. Value Creation

Offering a top-notch product or service is your first priority. Whether it’s functional or just plain fun, your commodity needs to be something people want. But that’s just the beginning. Unfortunately, most products, no matter how great, don’t sell themselves. The marketing itself must also be perceived as having value. People are busy and they don’t want their time wasted. All the content that you post as part of your marketing strategy must be relevant and meaningful to potential customers. Let’s say you sell cleaning products. A hilarious tale about your puppy’s first birthday party could be a good way to promote your soap, but only if it is relevant to the story. If the anecdote is about how you used your fabulous cleanser to tidy up after the fun and fuzzy event, great. If it’s about how Puptart chewed up everyone’s shoes, not so much. The type of content you select may vary from useful tips to simply making viewer laugh, but the person seeing it needs to feel that you have added value by watching it. If you keep this in mind every time you post something on social media, you’ll definitely see your sales rise.

2. Simplicity

As mentioned above, consumers don’t like to feel that their time has been squandered. Make your brand easier to find by using free tools like Google Search Console to improve your SEO. Customers want easy navigation within the site as well. Nothing drives traffic away faster than seeing ‘zero results’ pop up in a search box. Streamline the ordering process as much as possible. The more screens a person has to click through, the less likely it is they’ll buy something. Your website must look consistent across multiple platforms as well. It should not matter whether the buyer is checking out your site on a mobile phone, a tablet, or a desktop, what they see should be recognisable as the same business. Also, be sure to add shoppable links to all your social media posts. Easy is king, and simplifying every step of the process will increase your conversions.

Image source: pixabay.com

3. Storytelling

For as long as there have been humans, they’ve been telling each other stories. People don’t like to be sold to, but they do like to be entertained. Every good marketer is a good storyteller. When it comes to digital marketing, it’s important to remember that storytelling doesn’t have to be in the form of written words. In fact, it’s often better if the story is visual. Short, engaging video clips are a great strategy for boosting sales because they show viewers things they actually enjoy watching. The story should incorporate the product or service, and the best type of story (and product) solves some sort of problem. A good story creates strong positive feelings about your product that, with any luck, will prompt the viewer to share with others. But be honest. Hyperbole and not-quite-true claims won’t give lasting results. Demonstrate how your offering genuinely improves productivity, helps someone lose weight, or saves time. Strong storytelling is one of the very best ways to up your sales.

4. Pre-Exit Pop-Ups

Another proven strategy to convert potential customers into card-carrying ones is via pre-exit pop-ups. Pop-ups use sophisticated behavioural analytics to determine which product(s) the customer is most likely to purchase. They do this by gleaning information from a variety of sources, including browser history and by tracking products that were abandoned in a cart during a previous visit. Offering an attractive discount on a product they’ve already shown interest in will rapidly increase sales. By requesting an email address to send the discount to, pre-exit pop-ups are also a great way to build your email list. As we all know, the customer email list is an essential component of successful marketing. In your email, you will of course also include the opportunity to receive updates about special discounts and offers, further strengthening the relationship and upping your chances for future sales.

Image source: activecampaign.com

5. Online Events

The pandemic supercharged the trend toward online events. According to Grand View Research, global virtual events are expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 24% over the next 6 years. Almost every single event planner intends to invest more in virtual events going forward. Seminars, webinars, and product launches are all solid approaches to getting the word out about your brand, drawing in new customers, and refreshing the memory of existing ones. Rather than relying on second- or third-party sources, participating in online events offers an excellent way to gather data directly from your audience. This first-hand information allows you to build a better relationship with your customers and increase conversions.

Image source: pixabay.com

6. Newsletters

According to Statista, over 300 billion emails are sent every day worldwide. It’s no wonder today’s consumer attention span only lasts a few seconds. No one has the time or brain space to absorb it all. If you want to up your sales, you must be able to grab your customers’ attention and hold onto it. Newsletters are a proven strategy when it comes to boosting sales, but they have to be strong. This means the information contained within must be relevant, attractively presented, and preferably personalised. Consumers’ expectations are ever on the rise and they’re becoming increasingly selective about what they’re willing to give their attention to. Anything you put in their inbox must be first-class and useful to them if you want to capture your share of the market.

7. Automation

As the saying goes, time is money, and this is definitely true when it comes to marketing. Time is also the great equaliser. We all only get so much each day, and most of us do not want to spend it endlessly tweaking a marketing campaign. For repetitive tasks, automation allows you to be more efficient without losing effectiveness. It can even reduce overall costs. Automated marketing tools give you insights into the sources of traffic on your website. Use the ones on your social media accounts to see how you’re performing and how visitors are interacting with your platforms. Email services offer stats as well, giving you data on things like open and click-through rates, as well as unsubscribes. By letting computers do what they do best — collecting and analysing data — you free up time to work on other aspects of your business, including developing more creative marketing content.

Image source: pixabay.com

To recap, no matter how awesome your product is, it’s a rare item that sells itself. A solid marketing strategy is your best path to successful sales. Start by explaining why customers need your product, and tell them about it in an informative and entertaining way. Make it easy for them to understand, and easy to buy. An email list is essential, and you should always be looking for ways to expand yours. Offer potential customers incentives to share their information. When you send out newsletters, make them relevant, interesting, and custom-tailored to the receiver. Let analytics do the work whenever possible to leave time for more exciting stuff. Finally, give yourself the leeway to make mistakes. Few things work exactly right the first time. Learn and move on. Be willing to experiment, and with a little perseverance, you’ll see your sales soar.

Bio:

Sue Seabury is a regular contributor to the blog for the top online pearl retailer, The Pearl Source.

Images:

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/social-media-social-marketing-5187243/

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ecommerce-online-shopping-3082813/

https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/exit-intent-popups-101

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/video-conference-video-call-online-6365765/

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/iot-internet-of-things-network-3337536/