As we embark on a new year, developing efficient marketing strategies to drive sales is crucial for your business’ growth. Although consumer buying habits changed significantly over the past 18 months, new tools and approaches also emerged to address those changes in behavior and conquer new and existing challenges.
Starting the year off strong will dictate the future of your sales and overall success. Here are five marketing strategies to help engage your customers and boost your sales.
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Connect through promotions
Nothing catches a potential customer’s eye more than a promotion, a sale or a good deal on a product or service – especially on a product they’ve already been eyeing. A successful promotion will not only increase your average order value but also help attract new customers, helping your business grow. This is why it’s important to determine the best type of promotion to help you reach your targets and goals.
- Buy one, get one free: This promotion is extra helpful when moving inventory. It gives the customer the feeling that they’re getting 100% off a product instead of both products at 50% off. To ensure success with new customers and lead to a sale, make sure your offer is easily accessible and caters to your audience’s needs.
- Percentage discounts: This type of offer is increasingly popular, often representing an 8.6% conversion rate. New and existing customers are more likely to complete a purchase with discounts on specific products or storewide.
- Dollar discounts: This type of promotion often outperforms percentage discounts. This is because it doesn’t require much thought from the customer, so the value is instantly perceived.
- Category discounts: If you’re targeting a specific audience, offering category or specific product discounts can position your brand in your customer’s top of mind, helping you move closer to a sale.
- New product launch discounts: Early bird or new product discounts gives your offer a sense of exclusivity because you’re allowing your customers to preorder a new product.
Capture customer information
When receiving new visitors on your site or store, they aren’t necessarily ready to purchase right away. As a business, the smartest thing to do is to capture valuable customer data for online and offline interactions.
Tools for small businesses such as Square allow companies to store a consumer’s purchase history and contact information. In this increasing digitization era, business owners need basic data aside from email addresses to engage and start a meaningful conversation with potential customers. A client’s phone number can allow companies to directly communicate with consumers and make sure their message gets across.
After identifying the best communication channel to start a conversation with your customers, you can use this valuable customer data to start building a community of loyal consumers. A valued and special customer is more likely to return, proving that valuable promotions are more effective than mass and generic promotions.
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Implement higher performing channels
The increasing digital adoption in enterprises and users worldwide has pushed businesses to seek new channels to communicate directly and consequently sell to their existing and potential customers. One clear example is social media platforms, where salespeople and marketers apply social selling, a strategy to build brand awareness and start a conversation with target buyers. Although target audiences vary from business to business, it’s necessary to assess which channels trigger a response to start building effective communication with your target audience.
To do this, you must find the best channel to help your message stand out against the massive notifications and emails. An effective way to achieve this is through SMS marketing, with a nearly 98% open rate, sure to directly connect with your customers and drive incremental sales. What was once a strategy used by larger companies is now available for small and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs), representing a cost-effective and more impactful way to communicate with your audience.
Personalize offers and content
One step is to deliver your message via an effective communication channel such as SMS marketing; connecting and getting your target to complete a call-to-action is a whole different feat. This is why gathering valuable consumer data such as purchase behavior is critical to help tailor your message and content. This holistic approach represents a unique and exclusive offer to your customers, tempting them to complete a purchase.
Personalize your deals to make your customers feel more intimate with your offering. For example, if you notice your customer often orders a latte at 9 a.m., you can send a text to remind them to order their coffee the next morning and offer a discount code. The more personalization, the more they’ll respond in the future.
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Integrate online and offline shopping
According to a recent study conducted by The Morning Brew, 43% of respondents state that they’ll most likely shop in-person post-pandemic. This represents an opportunity for small-to-medium businesses SMBs to bridge the gap between e-commerce and physical retail, offering a practical, safe and easy customer shopping experience.
As consumers slowly start trickling back to stores, you can offer the option to continue to make purchases online and still come to the store if they wish. One way to do this is by providing an online shop and in-store pickup policy or offering promo codes redeemable in both online and physical stores. The ultimate goal is to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible and ensure a sale.
The digital transformation is here to stay, and businesses need to seek valuable data and resources to build on resilience and drive greater revenue to remain competitive. Retailers are no exception to this challenge and must leverage personalization and effective communication strategies to build meaningful relationships with their customers. Whether it’s strategically applying individual promotions or communicating through different channels, the tips above are sure to help get a strong head start and boost your sales.
