Welcome to 2022! Hopefully, you had a great holiday season full of conversions, and life is good. But if you're like most e-commerce business owners, the New Year brings new challenges, and it's time to re-evaluate your approach to keep up with changing trends in digital marketing.
As technology evolves, so must your strategies for boosting ROI.
If you use old tactics, you're probably not getting the results you had hoped for.
Luckily, there are new ways to help your e-commerce business thrive in this ever-changing digital landscape, but only if you know what to look for.
To that end, we've created a step-by-step guide on how to boost ROI for your e-commerce business in 2022.
Step 1: Use New Tactics to Reach Your Audience
One of the most prominent digital marketing challenges is reaching your audience.
It's not enough to focus on keywords or hashtags anymore; you need to target customers very specifically with language that aligns with what is relevant to them. Consumers want more than for you just to provide products. Amazon has made it so easy for consumers to get almost any product, and you must now fight your way to get their attention.
Consumers want to feel that you can relate to them on more of a personal level.
Make communication like you are directly talking to your customers, and they will reward you with loyalty and repeat orders.
It would also help if you built out a game plan for social media. Find the best platforms for your business and then use them strategically with well-crafted content that you know will appeal to your target audience.
Step 2: Boost Your Reputation with Reviews
If your site isn't optimized for reviews, then you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to boost ROI.
Consumers love to know others who have purchased your products and want to hear what others think about them. If you're not proactively getting reviews, it can drastically reduce conversions if your products have zero or few reviews.
Try to get at least 20 positive reviews from verified customers on each product, and if you can't get them organically, it might be time to try a review management platform. This way, you don't have to spend time asking for them.
When reaching out, offer an incentive in exchange for a product review, so they know there is a reward attached to their opinion. When consumers have a good experience with a company, they are a lot less likely to leave a review than when they have a terrible experience.
Authentic reviews can motivate other potential customers to take the plunge and make a purchase.
E-commerce businesses with poor or no reviews might see two to three times less revenue than those with more verified reviews.
Step 3: Make the Mobile Experience Count
More than half of all internet traffic in the US is mobile.
When designing your e-commerce site for mobile, optimizing it with these statistics in mind is crucial.
Ensure that your site can be navigated easily on a smartphone by offering easy links to payment options and contact information. Also, ensure that your site loads quickly, as slow load times are one of the biggest reasons customers abandon a shopping cart.
Most store owners take mobile optimization for granted, even though most of their sales may be coming from mobile users. Take time to go through your store as a consumer to ensure the experience is simple and easy for potential customers.
If there are any sticking points from the time someone hits your site until they checkout, your conversions will suffer as a result.
Step 4: Add Multiple Payment Options
Consumers are demanding more payment options that are flexible.
They don't want to be limited to one or two choices. The convenience of using whatever form of payment is best for your customer should be considered. It can be frustrating if you have a product that an individual wants, but you don't offer their preferred payment method.
Paying for an item should be as easy and convenient for the customer as possible, and you can make this happen by offering various forms of payment. Many e-commerce stores provide multiple options like debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, and even mobile payments such as Apple Pay or Android Pay.
A new trend in online shopping is utilizing flex pay or multi-pay options where consumers can purchase items over time. There are flex pay options that can plug right into your store, and they make it simple for customers to pay a small amount in multiple intervals, making purchasing much more manageable.
If consumers can get what they want for a fraction of the cost today, it will help with overall conversion.
Step 5: Give Customers Options for Delivery
Offering flexible delivery options is another way to make the overall purchase easier for your customers, and it can also help boost conversions.
Consumers want convenience when planning their shopping; they want items delivered on their schedule and have a predictable time frame of when their new purchase will arrive.
E-commerce businesses that offer free shipping, fast delivery times, and various options for getting products to the customer can see an increase in shipping revenue and cart conversions.
The adage is still true: fast, good, or cheap – pick two. You can have quick delivery at a high price or use free or lower-cost shipping methods that take more time for delivery.
Either way, you're giving control to your customer and allowing them to choose the best option for them.
Step 6: Understand Your Competition
It's essential to pay attention to what your competition is doing in the e-commerce industry so you can stay ahead of them and notice how they are differentiating themselves.
There may be something new happening with your competition that has led to an increase in sales, and it may be something you can implement to improve your results.
In addition to checking out your direct competitors, look at what the online retail industry is doing in general.
What new products are landing well with consumers?
How do their websites look, and how functional is the user experience?
What types of marketing campaigns are being used successfully?
Analyze all of these different components to understand better how you can improve your business and stay ahead of the competition.
Aligning with pockets of trends can help with short-term conversions and also help grow your customer base. Just remember to stay true to your brand and what you're already doing well for long-term success.
Step 7: Provide Value Through Email Marketing
One of the best ways to boost ROI is through email marketing.
The real-time nature allows you to remain top of mind with your customers and stay on their minds when ready for a new purchase. It's particularly effective for e-commerce stores because it's highly targeted, meaning you can send an email only to those subscribers who have bought from you before.
Email marketing can be a great way to drive conversions, and many components will help with the process.
These include relevant content that your target audience wants, making yourself available as an expert in your industry, and creating healthy product-based email campaigns are all ways you can boost your email marketing ROI.
Step 8: Offer Consistent Support
Customer support is crucial for building trust with your customers and maintaining a relationship with them for the long haul.
You want to be there with your consumers every step of the way, providing support if they need assistance or feedback about your products or services.
The best way to ensure this happens is to keep your customer service team as high-functioning as possible; those who are courteous and helpful will boost confidence in the products you offer and your brand as a whole.
When customers feel like they can rely on your business or you understand what they need, it's easier for them to make another purchase in the future.
Final Thoughts
Consumer preferences are constantly evolving, and it can be difficult for marketers to keep up with everything. The e-commerce industry continues to grow at an exponential rate.
Brands have had to adapt, with most offering flex-pay options along with fast delivery times to appeal to their customers and stay afloat in the e-commerce realm.
As more consumers continue to do research online and seek advice from others, staying top of mind with your target audience becomes even more critical.
By implementing some or all of these steps into your 2022 marketing strategy, you're giving yourself a solid chance at growing revenue and conversions.