7 Marketing Ideas That Will Boost Your Sales

7 Marketing Ideas That Will Boost Your Sales

Whether you run an online business or brick and mortar shop, selling your product or services is key (duh).  If you’re feeling a little stagnant in your marketing efforts, fear not! We’ve got some fresh ideas to help inspire you to get creative and make some sales!

1) Encourage customers to review the products they buy from your website. Research clearly shows that products with reviews have a 10-12% higher conversion rate than products without reviews. When the product has twenty or more reviews, conversion to sales as a percentage is even higher. Send a follow-up email to customers asking for their opinion of the product, or even consider offering a small “prize” or gift to those who send a review, like a small gift card or percentage off their next purchase.

2) Track which emails have the highest open rate. Use the metrics in your email marketing account to find the emails that are the most successful with your audience. Experiment with subject lines, content, and delivery times to determine which emails convert to sales consistently.

3) Identify Cart Abandonment Issues. If you’re running an e-commerce site, abandoned shopping carts could be a common issue. Send a follow-up email to customers who made it to checkout but didn’t make the purchase. This can help to identify software problems, address customer complaints, and generally serve as a reminder.

4) Provide Rewards to Your Loyal Customers. For e-commerce websites, typically 80% of sales dollars are provided by 20% of your customer base. Gift cards and discounts are a great way to keep your loyal customers coming back.

5) Give Customers Free Store Credit. Rather than offering a discount percentage, offer customers a specific dollar amount to spend on your website for a limited time. Buyers perceive this as “free money” rather than a discount and therefore are more likely to buy.

6) Don’t Forget Birthdays and Anniversaries. Automate emails that go out to customers around their birthday as a special gift to them, or around anniversaries of your business relationship. Personal touches go a long way in establishing long-term buying behavior and make the customer feel appreciated!

7) Social Media. Research shows that a one two punch of social media and email marketing produces more sales than just email alone. Why? People who have previously seen your brand on social media are 22% more likely to buy when they open your email. Make each marketing campaign a two-pronged approach that utilizes both social media and email simultaneously, and track your results.

In this day and age of spam and junk mail, converting email marketing into sales can be very difficult. Try to use these seven marketing ideas to boost your sales on your own, or consult a marketing professional who can help you meet your sales goals.