This is an article “How To Spike Your Sales On Social Media” by Marc Primo
Global consumers have shifted towards online shopping during the pandemic, and the drastic change affects how digital marketers everywhere establish their campaigns. The thing is, eCommerce platforms for retail merchandising show no signs of slowing down, and are continuing to be embraced now and well into the future.
As more consumers discover the convenience of this great migration to online shopping, numbers have gone up worldwide. In particular, the Indo-pacific region registered 40 million new internet users last year due to the health crisis, owing to nearly 35% of the total online retail revenue in 2020.
However, many believe that there is still a long way to go before online marketers truly master and leverage the benefits of online shopping. New retail tactics and best practices continue to develop. Many expert digital marketers call it 'omnichannel retailing.' Small and medium enterprises go offline to online and perform what many expert digital marketers call. Doing this enables them to measure the traction of their sales campaigns and lead generation.
If you are looking to boost your sales while learning the ropes of online migration, here are a couple of good insights to consider:
New-age retail happens online
By combining what we've all learned from traditional marketing to the potential that eCommerce can offer both companies and consumers alike, the world is experiencing a more seamless form of retail merchandising.
The main objective, of course, is learning how to automate your online shopping platforms and eventually streamline the sales and transaction processes while making things easier for the consumer. Of course, this convenience factor stems from how most of us have been in quarantine and how the many lockdowns momentarily halted operations for brick and mortar stores all over the world.
Learning how businesses can offer flexibility in shopping and delivering goods online is the primary goal of new-age retailing. This new marketplace setup allows companies to review consumer behavior, engagement, and preferences, unlike before when they had to physically sell products and conduct focus groups studies to gain some insights.
But things aren't as easy as they would seem, as many businesses still struggle to find the perfect eCommerce formula, which for some, can take months, if not years, to develop. Unfortunately, what follows are companies that have temporarily closed or shut down, including 43% of small businesses across the country, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic region.
What we've learned so far here is that omnichannel marketing can offer so much for businesses and consumers alike, such as lower costs via cloud migration, better accessibility, broader reach, and more convenient payment alternatives.
However, nothing compares to how traditional marketing can establish brands through physical human interactions and promotions, which is not easy to do online. With that, you need to do first before migrating online to review what works in your traditional marketing strategies and adapt to how you can improve your overall campaigns via online channels.
Many want to explore the omnichannel consumer experience
Many businesses are inclined to ask: Is the 30% increase for online sales just a product of necessity due to the pandemic? The short answer here is: 'no.'
Today's global consumers (particularly for the Generation Z segment who spend more than five hours daily on mobile) find it appealing to explore more products and services online. Having this insight should prompt businesses to make their eCommerce platforms more mobile-friendly while improving features on accessibility and delivery.
In layman's terms, omnichannel marketing integrates different online channels to connect with their target markets and establish their brand. Aside from this, they can discover a treasure trove of consumer behavior data through analytics to improve their digital marketing strategies and customer experiences.
According to a study conducted by Big Commerce and Retail Dive, 46% of today's retail businesses are allocating higher budgets towards their future eCommerce campaigns. This data stems from how more than 80% of consumers expressed their intent to opt for online shopping. And that's even after the pandemic has subsided.
Offering more value can result in a better brand boost
Successful case studies from small and medium businesses that came out during the pandemic will show that efficient search engine optimization (SEO), proper targeting on social media, and various ad placement formats in the best platforms out there significantly contribute to lead generation. For example, India's online grocery provider Grofers enjoyed a 64% spike in new online shoppers by doing omnichannel strategies.
Try to combine your most competitive prices and offers in your campaigns, then review how consumers react to them. Improve your site speed to reduce bounce rates and keep your SEO content brand-oriented and primed with high quality and integrity for better consumer response.
Omnichannel strategies can increase sales and revenue
After refining your consumer experiences via your eCommerce platforms through easy payment processes, fast deliveries, and contactless transactions, among others, you can now showcase these features on social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter's business pages. Combine organic and paid ads to boost your online presence and perform email marketing for your core and lookalike audiences.
The first step in establishing an efficient eCommerce campaign is to be visible to your target market. Various social media platforms like Facebook offer excellent tools to measure offline and online analytics, including Pixels, Facebook SDK, or App Events API. Once you have a substantial following, you can stand out on social media faster and get higher visibility on users' Feeds, Stories, or search engine results pages (SERPs). However, this still depends on evaluating your online marketing performance or how well you understand your audience.
There's no question that Facebook is your top-of-mind choice when channeling your online ad spend on social media. However, also consider placing your ads via the Google Display Network for best results. Both can help improve your online retail performance and brand awareness campaigns while also offering several options on how your ads can appear where, when, and for whom. By doing a few tweaks based on the data you gather from both platform's analytics, you can engage a bigger audience and eventually increase leads and conversions, all through suitable omnichannel marketing investments.