Let’s face it, selling stuff online is no walk in the park. The competition is insane, and conversions likely just aren’t where you want them to be. Instead, you spend all your waking hours chasing down that next sale, dreaming of the day that repeat business suddenly starts coming to you, begging you to make more stuff they can buy.
Some people – quite a lot – are doing it successfully. So why aren’t you? It’s easy to feel frustrated, disappointed, and like this is all just some crazy dream you have, but the reality is no (or low) sales often means that there’s a bigger problem at play.
In other words, it might actually not be you or the prospects, it might be something that’s not quite optimized. Think of it like a disastrous leak that means the tap can’t just be turned on at will. You need to fix the plumbing to make sure that all systems are ready to go for the floodgates of sales to finally open.
For example, you might think that your emails and other efforts at content marketing are all you need – but the truth is that you don’t write something then have a bunch of people come and buy. A decade ago, this strategy could have worked, but these days, the market is too saturated.
The same goes for relying on some magical launch formula that claims to rake in thousands of dollars overnight. Sure, it does for some – but likely the formula you get doesn’t include one vital ingredient, or you miss doing one trivial thing because it seems unimportant.
What you should depend on is keeping your brand fresh in their mind: or an ongoing content strategy. Most people aren’t ready to buy NOW – but they may be down the road. Keeping yourself in their heads is a great way to make that sale yours.
Perhaps you’re not targeting your audience closely enough. One of the most common newbie mistakes is also one of the most avoidable: marketing to everyone. By everyone, I do mean everyone. Every man, woman, and child. Sure, that’s a big target market, but how many of them really need what you’ve got?
Instead, you need to nail down your perfect customer and advertise and market to them. The easiest way to do this is to find their problem and give them a solution. Your ideal customer is someone who needs what you’re selling. If you can help them to fix their issue, then you’ve got a buyer. Additionally, you won’t be wasting money advertising to people who couldn’t care less about your product.
This also helps you to win at spotlighting. By this, I mean putting the customer in control of the process. Nobody likes being sold to – including you! – but when you find a product that solves your issue, you feel in control. Although the marketing strategy is the same, because it’s so targeted, your subtly shifting the balance of power to yourself while giving consumers the choice of freedom and making their own mind up without a heavy sales pitch that leaves them wincing.
Do you have a brand strategy? If not, you need one right now. Forget your logo – your strategy is all about your ideal customer and what your brand does that they love. What problems you solve, and how you solve them. This includes your voice, and how you present yourself to the world.
For example, if your target market is grandmothers, you will have a different branding strategy than for 20 year old men. Different voice, different product, different messaging. You simply can’t treat them the same (and this is why the big net of generalized marketing is rarely effective).
Additionally, consider how people experience your brand. What feelings are they going to get when they learn about your brand and interact with it? Ideally, you want a consistent experience that builds on trust and consequentially, your relationship. It’s the difference between cold traffic and interested consumers.
Much of this is done by minimizing anything that could lead to resistance from potential buyers. The easiest way to do this is to create a metric ton of content that informs readers and lets them understand everything they need to. Ideally, you want to turn a potential no into a yes.
You can also make small, low risk offers that let people dip their toe in the water before making the big plunge. Nobody is truly going to miss $1 or a small sum like this, but that $1 can lead to bigger purchases and show that there’s plenty you have to offer when they get their wallets out. These loss leaders are a vital part of marketing, and something you’ll want to use liberally as you build up your business.
Finally, you need to grow and make yourself as visible as possible. If nobody knows about your business, then nobody will buy your products! This is one of the most difficult steps, but an essential one.
There are multiple things you can do here, but promotion, promotion, and promotion is the beginning and end of it. Building an online business is no different to an offline business, but both are possible with dedication and hard work – good luck!