Learn how to increase sales online by applying a few tweaks to your business strategy.
These things aren’t difficult to understand but can be challenging to practice.
You can apply the ideas anywhere from Amazon to Etsy to restaurants.
Let’s start.
8 Creative Ways to Increase Sales Online Today
These ideas are targeted at small business owners. They are mostly about things you can change or start doing alongside what you already are doing.
That said, let’s look at the small things that will prevent famine in your business
1. Identify as a community/class
We buy on emotion and justify with logic — Joseph Sugarman
People want to belong to a community that feels true to their being. People buy things because it differentiates them from other people. So use that to your advantage by defining the identity/class that surrounds your product.
In a blind taste test, the “Jugement of Paris,” many self-proclaimed wine experts couldn’t differentiate wines correctly.
Why?
The wines’ tastes were difficult to differentiate without the name.
People Like Us Do Stuff Like this
In the end, it’s all about the branding, the name, the identity
So when talking about your product, pay more attention to the community/class you want to create around the product.
For instance, your expensive car isn’t necessarily better or faster. But it somehow brushes your ego, and that’s okay. That’s what marketing does to your mind. It makes you choose products based on your emotions more often.
Traffic Vs. Customer Satisfaction
In this blog, I discuss how engagement is more important than traffic. Is that correct? Not really. But I know the type of people I want to work with. I want people who care more about customer engagement than ranking. Ultimately, driving more sales comes down to moving your customer to action, not how much traffic you get.
Want to learn how to increase sales online? Start working on its emotional appeal.
2. Create an irresistible offer
Have you seen two companies selling a product, and the prices convince you to choose one over another?
Yeah, you have experienced what I am about to mention here.
As a buyer, we tend to look at the whole package of an offer before making a decision.
Marketing professionals know this, and they use it to their advantage.
Pricing your product or services
These are the prices on Netflix:
The premium plan looks like a kill, especially if you compare it with the basic plan. Many people will likely go for it.
So when creating an offer, ensure that the higher the price, the higher the package. Make your buyers regret not picking the most expensive option. It’s one of the effective ways to increase online sales.
When slashing your price doesn’t work
Does that mean people will choose you over someone whose product is more expensive?
No, it doesn’t.
This strategy might not work when people are comparing your product with another one. They might choose your more expensive competitors if the entire package seems more reasonable. It is all about what they are getting out of it. Not the price tag.
What can you do here? You can try the following.
- Appeal to emotion. Example: this is the drink every winner drinks before 8 am.
- Combine services and remove a percentage out of the price. Example: I will write your product description for $50. I will work with a designer to create a flyer for $150. I will design a flyer and write your product description for the same product for $180. This idea gives your buyer the idea that they save $20.
- If your prices are the same as your competitors, your buyers will be looking at other things. Why? They want to get the best experience/value for their money. Sometimes, this is hard and subjective. The first point in this post comes to mind: emotions or branding. Another reason could be the “recommendation” or “the class” associated with the product. I’ve heard someone say they don’t subscribe to Netflix because another brand has better movies. It’s not about price all the time.
Remember: the content of your package covers everything you can think of. If you are thinking of how to increase sales in a restaurant, slashing your price might work. However, your customers will still consider everything you have, from location to setting to how the attendants treat them.
When it’s time to work on how to increase sales online, create an irresistible offer. Make your buyers say, “Oh, wow, that’s a steal,” or “it’s so worth it.”
3. Over-deliver always
People will remember how you make them feel more than anything else. So when you are dealing with customers, take the time to understand the problem and over-deliver on your promise.
Over-delivery can be anything:
- A simple phone call
- A greeting card inside the package they order
- Arriving before the deadline
- Give something they won’t expect for free
My experience with NameCheap customer care has always been remarkable. They are the best I have ever met in my entire life. They answer any time of the day and provide clear and specific solutions.
Another example I have seen is Hubspot. I always wonder if they are not losing money with the number of courses, tools, and resources they create in the marketing industry FOR FREE.
5. Always Be Marketing
I have seen many people stop marketing once they have started making sales. It’s okay to reduce the effort you put into marketing.
But look at the biggest brands you have seen. Do they stop marketing?
Come next world cup. You will still see Coca-Cola ads. Why? It won’t help their brand if they stop appearing in people’s faces.
As a business owner with an online business, you should adopt the same strategy.
Always be Marketing B*cthes
If your marketing plan isn’t working, try something different, but don’t stop. There are tons and tons of marketing channels and mediums. Try blogging, social media marketing, and content distribution. Combine them or try a new approach but don’t stop.
Search Engine Optimization
I am an advocate of blogging as a form of marketing strategy. Apply SEO strategy, and you will keep keeping sales even when you have stopped creating content. Optimize your landing pages for search, get backlinks for authority websites and make the page mobile friendly.
It’s okay if you don’t want to try this approach, but don’t forget: Always be marketing. Don’t stop.
6. Stop looking at your competitions
When starting a business, you should check what your competitors are doing. It allows you to understand the market and see what has been done.
However, when it comes to finding new ways to do things, you won’t find it by looking at your competitors. Instead, you will be replicating what they are doing.
Yes, you can do it better. Sadly, the world isn’t as excited with “better” as much as they are with “different.”
If it’s in a manual, if it’s the accepted wisdom, if you can find it in a Dummies book, then guess what? It’s boring, not remarkable. Part of what it takes to do something remarkable is to do something first and best. Roger Bannister was remarkable. The next guy, the guy who broke Bannister’s record wasn’t. He was just faster … but it doesn’t matter.
Seth Godin
Stop looking at your competitors for ideas. Instead, look somewhere else for inspiration. You can listen more to your buyers, check other industries, and be open to new experiences or topics. You might find a gemstone where you least expect it.
7. Work hard and, sometimes, for free
Don’t let them lie to you. You have to work for free.
But your job is to look at the free work and see the bigger picture and the reward it can provide.
I am a ghostwriter, and I used to post on Medium regularly. Sometimes I use the post on the platform as a sample and what convinces the reader and the buyer to work with me is the engagement they see on those posts.
As long as I’m freelance writing, those samples will be there. If they drive engagement, it will continue to increase my chance of convincing my clients.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m against working for free, but social proof and referrals are essential in online businesses. It is the credential you will show prospects for them to work with you.
If you get paid while building your portfolio, congratulations to you. The rest of us have to work hard and pay it forward before things start happening.
Similarly, many brands would give their products free to get people’s perspectives and reviews.
Work for free, but be strategic with how you deliver it. Is it building your portfolio, adding testimonials, or even friendship?
8. Network
It’s business, after all. So you have to depend on other businesses to get where you want.
You’re starting a podcast. Your first few guests will probably be people you know.
Starting a blog? The first few backlinks will come from people you reach out to.
Starting a writing business? Your first clients and referrals are likely from people you meet randomly.
The list goes on and on. Meeting the right people and having them on your friend list can increase sales of products and services.
So start networking as much as you’re learning or designing your products right now.
How do you network?
It’s that simple and not that simple.
You have to appear in people’s faces and lives strategically. Try to meet them physically or online.
You can:
- Send cold emailing
- Pitch your ideas to top business people
- Create the content on social media
- Go to events
Learn to bring value everywhere you go
People like to hang around and recommend people who provide great value.
How to increase sales Online: Treat your business like a business
In business, you should always think of the implications of your decisions. So when you say, I want to learn how to increase sales online, your business is likely missing some of the things big businesses use in their strategies. So go back to the table and start implementing these things.
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