How many ways can you use the internet to increase sales?
Yes, we know that your business needs a website. (And if you don’t have one as yet, you are already behind, and we should talk). But apart from building an engaging site, what else can you use to improve your sales?
As business managers, one of the things we focus on is how to increase sales. We review past successes and try to replicate them. We strategize, consider best practices, etc. But, some of the simple and easy to implement steps can be overlooked, because they seem, well, simple.
With these tips, it doesn’t matter if you operate an e-commerce business, deliver a service, or operate a brick-and-mortar company. You can still use them to leverage the internet for increased profits.
1. Build Relationships
People buy from people. Even as a company, your people are the face of your company. That’s why you need to build relationships with your current and potential customers. An occasional sales email is not creating a relationship.
One of the easiest ways to build relationships with people that are all over the country – and over the world – is by using the power if the internet. The first step is getting a well-designed website that represents your brand and facilitates consistent engagement with your customers.
2. Leverage Social Media
It is good to get all the social media handles with your business name. But, you should only focus on those where your target customers are likely to be. Otherwise, you will stretch yourself thin and not gain as much traction from your use of social media.
Some companies have used social media extremely well to build a following for their brand. Take for example the twitter handle for Wendy’s. They have increased their following exponentially through interactive social media engagements with their audience.
Now, this is not to say that you should try to imitate Wendy’s. But, what it shows is that you can increase followers and generate more sales with a solid social media presence.
3. Customer Management
If your website does not have an intuitive customer management system, then you need to upgrade. Your site is supposed to work for your business, not the other way around. So, unless it can streamline key processes – or manage your customer relationships, then you are wasting time and money.
4. Content Marketing
Content marketing is another way to leverage the internet. You can add value to your offerings by supplying information that your customers can genuinely use. Plus, you will also attract new customers while you develop your company as a leader in your industry. This could be done through your company blog, or through your newsletters that you send to existing customers and website subscribers.
5. Automate your systems
As business managers, your success is often times measured by how efficiently your business processes are executed. One of the main ways to improve business efficiency is by automating your operations. Not only does this free up resources for you to handle other more pressing tasks, but it gives your company a professional edge over its competitors.
Automating your payment arrangements or systemizing your customer acquisition and retention processes are two options to consider when contemplating automation. You can do the latter with emails and text messages that show your customers how much you value their business, while providing information on products of interest.
How easy is it to leverage the internet to increase sales?
I’ve worked with multiple small and large businesses across Jamaica. And I’ve realised the issues they’ve faced. While it is not easy in some cases, we are determined to grow any business online.
In fact, Mobile Edge Solutions has helped Jamaican businesses increase sales online by over 200%.
So, we know the power of the internet. And we know that you can use it to increase your sales. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business like O’Shane Bryant Fitness or a major financial player like NCB. You can use the internet to grow and scale your business.
If you’re ready to improve your sales without breaking the bank, let’s talk.