Every seller’s dream is to have as much traffic that generates buys, as possible. However, achieving this is not as easy as it seems. A lot of people spent enormous amounts of money on advertising, all in order to bring more customers to their website. Why is it then, that the average rate of e-commerce conversion is somewhere between 1-5%? What are store owners doing wrong?

Let’s focus on at least 2 problems

Quantity not quality – a lot of store owners think that the more site visits they have, the better it is for the shop. What they don’t know is that more often than not, these visits were brought in by mistake or by accidentally clicking on an advertisement that doesn’t fulfill their needs. All it takes, to prevent that from happening, is using the Pareto 20/80 principle. Focus you marketing strategy and means on 20% of users that generate 80% of the profit.

I have to have a lot of products on my webpage, so that my customers will have more to choose from – that’s a busted myth that is the Achilles heel of many owners. If a customer has 2 options to choose from, instead of 6, they will be quicker and more decisive in choosing. E-commerce studies show that best-selling sites are one page websites. With one product and the whole page in the form of a letter that explains why customers should buy this product, convinces them to do so and motivates by giving them a “buy now” option. Easy as pie!

Now, I know what you’re going to ask: So how am I supposed to gain important customers with low costs? How Am I to recognize the 20%? Keep on reading to find out!

Important questions to ask yourself

To create a good marketing campaign and to reach the right customers, use the Growth Hacking strategy, that is – a set of ways and experiments that will help create the most effective (quality/price) channel to the most valuable customers. To begin it’s important to ask the right questions:

1. Who is my client? (Send an e-mail to 50 clients that buy the most, and ask him, for example, to fill in a questionnaire)
2. What does he really need? (Examine closely how he found out about you, what phrases he used to find you in Google, etc.)
3. Why does he want to buy my product? (knowing what ‘it’ is, you can use ‘it’ in an advertisement, to better answer the needs of you customer)
4. How does he look for information about you? (Google, Internet forum, friends, celebrities, brand awareness, etc.)
5. What does a customer value in you store and what annoys him? (And what would he change)
6. What is the purpose of your marketing actions?

Growth Hacking

Once you’ve answered all the above questions, go ahead and take on the role of an analyst-marketer and begin you Growth Hacking experiments. Here is a list of 5 free techniques:

1. Step forward as an advisor – be active on forums that pertain to your specific field and industry, give advice as an expert and always attach a link to you e-store.
2. Start a blog – write interesting articles about the products/services you sell. Try to invite experts or celebrities from this industry to guest post. The more reliable the information given and the people who write it, the more trusted your brand is, and the more relevant visits on your online store.
3. Create an affiliate program – there internet is full of people who will write about you and share links to your website. That is, as long as you give them a share of your profits. Think about how much you can give away in return for new customers, and build your business partners network.
4. Motivate your current customers to invite their friends – send out an e-mail with information that every invited person will get a 20% discount, whereas the customer who was the invitee will, for example, get a free cup with the company logo.
5. Direct a video – YouTube is an enormous communication tool. Think about whether your products fit into a specific situation or happening that is popular at the moment (for example, elections in the US). You can create a video that will amaze and become a viral, like “the invisible helmet”.

And so on.. The only thing that’s standing in your way is you own imagination, remember – sky is the limit. Most tools are free, all you need is an idea and time to put it to work. Get to the right people, at the right time. Make interesting messages, sales and catchphrases for valuable customers.

The ABC of getting more customers

A. Site monitoring – this will help you find customers that look for your product, sites like Sentione or Mention, and Brand24  will help you.

B. Analysis of customer behavior, we recommend Mixpanel and KISSMetrics.

C. Growth Hacking sites like GrowHack or NeilPatel.

Should you have any questions, concerns or just want to give us a shout you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Good luck!

Damian

Damian is an open minded guy, interested in positive psychology, coaching and self developement. And in his free time, he sails. Aye aye, Captain Salesman!