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We can’t see the future, but you can prepare for it now so your e-commerce brand remains resilient through an unexpected downturn. Whether you’ve been working on a plan already or are just now looking into building economic security, here are four strategies for optimizing your online store to build and secure brand loyalty:
Create a Frictionless Shopping Experience
The less friction shoppers experience navigating your store, the more likely they are to stay there (and away from competitors). That starts with an attractive, well-optimized site that catches the eye and loads quickly. Studies suggest that the average visitor will make a judgment on the quality of your website in 0.05 seconds, so first impressions matter!
You can start creating a smooth experience by building your store the way customers shop:
- Group related products with sub-pages that make your store easy to navigate
- Depending on your products, it may make sense to group them by size, dietary needs, or other use cases
- Create dedicated pages for things like promotions, new releases, and best sellers
- Be sure to hide out-of-stock products so shoppers don’t arrive at your listings only to find they can’t purchase from you
Keep an eye on your dashboards to see which pages have the most visitors, how many pages shoppers view before they leave, which products shoppers tend to browse in the same visit, etc. Use this data to inform decisions – like which products to feature on your store’s main page, which products to bundle together, and which products to put more advertising behind – to constantly optimize toward a better shopping experience.
Leverage Multimedia for Cross-Selling
When done effectively, personalized recommendations to existing customers are nine times more likely to convert than traditional ads. To do it right, you have to carefully guide your consumers through the sales funnel with a variety of media that speaks to them and gradually leads them to the deeper information they seek.
Use a mix of imagery, infographics, and videos to highlight brand values and help shoppers discover more of your catalog. Get as many of these details on your product description pages (PDPs) as feasible to increase conversions and average order value. Bundle items together and include a “people also buy” section for cross-promotion.
The results of these tactics aren’t hypothetical; McKinsey & Company reported a few remarkable statistics from a cross-selling pilot program. Long-term implementation saw a 60% increase in on-site conversions, leading to an overall yearly sale increase of 20%. Cross-selling is an initiative worthy of your time and resources because it works, building a stronger consumer base more reliant and loyal to your products and brand.
Keep Your Store Fresh
Updating your store regularly keeps your brand aligned with consumer demand. During a recession, you can emphasize discounts, promotions, or bundles throughout your store. During the holidays, you can group products into gift lists. These tactics are also helpful for A/B testing different store layouts to see what drives the most revenue.
Just as you should update your store, you also need to update the ads pointing to it. Potential consumers are likely to need dozens – if not hundreds – of impressions before they convert, and new ads with new info can slowly build a case for your product and store in their mind. The best way to start building is with display ads, which provide the best cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) and cost per click (CPC) if done right.
As you drive traffic to your site, supplement it with videos that dive into the deeper details that demonstrate the effectiveness of your product. A well-produced video can have a huge boost to conversion rates; for a more in-depth look, check out our article: “All About the Video Ad.”
Employ Retargeting Tactics to Feed Your Sales Journey
It’s rare that you’ll convert a consumer on their first visit, but getting them there is a promising start. Once interest has been shown, it’s vital to keep your brand top-of-mind when they think about purchasing the product, and that means retargeting. In fact, Genius Monkey data shows that their users who are also employing retargeting tactics convert at a 27.4% faster rate. Here are 4 ways to use retargeting to turn shoppers into customers and customers into repeat purchasers:
- Use past purchaser retargeting to target shoppers who have shown an interest in popular products similar to yours. You can refine this targeting based on price point, product category, and demographics.
- Use competitor site retargeting to reach shoppers who have viewed competitors’ products. If you can present a better alternative or a better experience, the chances for conversion are greatly increased.
- Make sure you have a variety of channels to speak to customers on every stage of the purchase journey. Whether they’re on the initial engagement or researching and comparing with competitors, everything you have to offer needs to be readily available and targeted from the moment they start looking.
- If you have consumable products – especially in essential categories like grocery and health care – test putting more resources toward promoting them. Selling consumables builds brand loyalty and increases the lifetime value of customers. You can even set up a subscription service if you’ve got the resources and clientele.
Recap
The time is now to implement these strategies that can see you through the thick and thin of the ever-changing economy.
- An emphasis on customer experience
- Using all your media tools for cross- and upselling
- Regularly updating your store and your ads
- Retargeting to ease users into a conversion
Learn how to target your customers effectively so you are no longer wasting ad spend. Let us help you with all things advertising; get started with the Genius Monkeys today!
