It’s been a big year.
We say that every year, but this year seemed to have an extra punch of trials and accomplishments.
At this point, binge-watching Netflix in bed is about all we have energy left to do… And yet, January’s already on the horizon, dangling new promises and to-do lists.
And we can bet that your company already has big forecasts and goals for 2020.
So how can you get a headstart on planning for those goals and still have time to settle into that restorative binge-watching?
By looking to see how digital marketing—whether that means SEO, SEM, paid social or a layered strategy—can propel your business towards your strategic goals. Take a look at some common eCommerce goals below and our recommendations on how digital marketing can help your company reach each one.
I Want to Increase My Website Traffic
When increasing traffic to your website, you want to play both the short game and the long game. In other words, you want to pull the levers that will increase traffic now, and the levers that will keep those traffic numbers rising six and twelve months down the line.
SEM and paid social are typically the biggest players in the short game. Identifying 3-5 of your primary customer avatars, and then reaching these avatars through interest-based targeting on social and keyword-based targeting on SEM is a great way to bring quality visitors to your site. Just make sure to hook them with the unique selling propositions of your product. Using social proof such as customer reviews and press quotes doesn’t hurt either.
SEO is often considered the long game. Running an SEO audit on your site can help you identify both technical issues and content/keyword issues that are keeping your site from ranking higher on Google. Monitoring the keywords for which your site ranks also can help you identify new content areas to apply to your site and blog—for example, if you begin to see a spike in vegan searches related to your product, maybe it’s time to add more vegan recipes to your blog.
I Want to Increase My Social Media Following and Engagement
Every company wants to keep up with their competitors and increase that all-important social proof. But Facebook and Instagram are continually changing their algorithms to drop your organic reach. So how do you keep up? By humanizing your brand—viewers don’t want to see you posting product images all day, everyday. Highlight the employees of your company, your company’s mission or origin story, the stories of your customers, and the ways that your product can solve a customer’s pain points. Less is more, in this case. It’s better to post high-quality content less often than throwing up a quick image everyday just because you’re doin’ it for the ‘gram. Stay on top of relevant trending topics and consider enlisting similar brands for giveaways that can boost all of your follower counts.
Psst, you’re in luck—we also have another blog post on the topic of increasing your social media followers.
I Want to Launch A New Product
A great way to build hype prior to a new product launch is to create a dedicated site landing page that teases the new product. Share enough to intrigue the viewer, and then ask them to submit their email address to be the first to shop. Direct your teaser posts, emails, and ads to this page, and you’ll build a pool of subscribers that you can hook by offering a special advance opportunity to buy the product. Make sure to let them know that this opportunity is limited, ideally to 24 hours or so. If they view the product but don’t buy, you can retarget them during the official launch, or offer them coupons later on.
Also be sure to cross-sell the product to customers who have bought similar or complementary products.
I Want to Increase My Presence In Retail Stores
Maybe you’re launching in a new retailer, or maybe you want to increase sales from an existing retailer partnership. Either way, social media ads are a great way to increase in-store sell-through. If you’re launching in Target, for example, you can create social media ads that target (no pun intended) the people who live nearby and are already interested in your brand or market.
You can also entice these viewers by offering a printable coupon that they can use in-store, or by partnering with coupon apps like Ibotta that offer money back on specific purchases.
If you really want to come across as a stalker, there’s some awesome software that allows you to target people who are currently located in specific locations, such as—you got it—currently shopping at Target.
I Want to Increase My Revenue
Ah, the big one, and the one that ties into all these other points. Once you’ve increased your site traffic and social media following, and leveraged your new products and retail partnerships, revenue should come as a result. If you don’t have the above factors at play—or you just want to jump your revenue more—then the two biggest areas on which to focus are conversion rates and average order value.
There’s a myriad of things that can impact and increase your conversion rates. It’s more important than ever to optimize your website for mobile traffic (especially your checkout process) and we recommend this as a first step if it’s not already checked off your list.
Offering trust symbols such as customer reviews, money-back guarantees and extra payment options such as PayPal or Amazon Pay can also give customers the confidence to proceed with their purchase.
In regards to AOV, an excellent strategy to take for the new year is to upsell, cross-sell and bundle your products. Let’s say you sell candles, for example—as someone is proceeding to checkout with a cinnamon-apple candle, create a pop-up that entices them to buy a pumpkin pie candle as well. Or, remind them of that three-pack of cinnamon-apple candles that will last so much longer than just the one.
Also consider creating packs of candles for different gifting purposes—such as a Mother’s Day gift bundle or a housewarming gift bundle. All of these tactics will encourage consumers to purchase more and will bump up your AOV, thus getting you more of that bottom-line revenue. *happy dance*
Phew, there’s a lot to consider here. If you want to reach more than one of these goals (and we’re guessing you do) then this all might feel overwhelming. Just take a deep breath and take it one step at a time, and if it still feels like too much to handle, it may be time to partner with an agency to help you implement these objectives. If you’re curious to know more, reach out for a free consultation on whether digital marketing can fit into your business. In the meantime, enter your info below to receive our guide of 17+ actionable promotions you can implement to increase your brand’s revenue and profit margins (no discounts needed!).
