Creating a sales and marketing strategy has changed a lot in the last few years. While it used to focus on print ads, television and radio commercials, or even billboards, now there are many ways to reach potential customers that are not only significantly less expensive but also more impactful.
When you’re selling a product that’s intended for digital use, and that is sold primarily through digital methods, it just makes sense to target your sales and marketing strategy to the digital realm.
Here are a few ways you can bolster your already-existing sales and marketing strategies and implement new, more successful ones as well.
#1: Eliminate Dead Ends
When prospective customers visit your website, they should be drawn in deeper and deeper as they click around. At no point should there be a dead end or a place where there’s no link to another part of the website.
Ideally, your site will be consistently channeling visitors to a product (or products), customer service, or a sales representative, regardless of whether they’ve already converted or not.
Even your order confirmation page should offer the option to continue shopping, which will bring the user back into the website.
#2: Offer a Guest Option
One of the biggest factors in cart abandonment is forcing users to sign in to make a purchase— in fact, 86% will leave the website altogether if they’re asked to make an account. If the user is already on the fence about committing to their purchase, requiring them to sign in can scare them away forever.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t offer interested parties the ability to create an account. After all, it’s more convenient for customers to fill out their information one time only. However, rather than making their purchase depend on this action, offer the opportunity after the purchase has been made. This will have a positive impact on your conversion rate, and your customers won’t feel pressured to offer up information they’re not comfortable sharing.
#3: Ensure Your Site’s Usability is Optimized
You might have a beautiful website, but if it’s not user-friendly, your visitors will click away from it within minutes. Conduct routine usability checks to ensure that your site is well designed. Specifically, determine that your site is:
- Easy to use—Your navigation should be so simple that anyone can pick it up instantly
- Efficient— Users should be able to complete their tasks quickly without a lot of difficulty
- (Relatively) Error-Free— If a user should make an error, can they quickly rebound from it?
- Memorable— Do users remember the design of the site even if they haven’t visited for awhile?
- Satisfactory— Is it fun and satisfying for users to navigate your site?
#4: Promote and Protect Your Site’s Reputation
One of the biggest reasons that visitors to a website don’t complete the sale is because they don’t trust the site to safely handle their personal data. Companies are all-too-often subjected to cybercrime— within the last few years, big names such as Anthem, Target, and even Equifax have been breached and users sensitive information plundered. How do you notify visitors to your site that you take their security seriously?
Prominently display your security certificates on your website and offer the services of a trained fraud protection team to users, too. This will go a long way in putting their minds at rest and removing their qualms about clicking on the “Buy” button.
An end-to-end ecommerce solution will act as a partner in your ecommerce business, enabling you to strengthen your sales and marketing strategies with ease. Interested in seeing what FastSpring’s ecommerce platform can do for you? Click here for a free demo today.