15 Ways To Increase Online Sales - Small Business Advice By Kieran Perry
12 Mar 2021
15 Ways To Increase Your Small Business Sales
Kieran Perry - Business Advisor
The more of these business ideas and business advice tips you have supporting your business – the stronger your business growth will be.
Website 97% of customers search online before they buy, and a huge proportion do so on a mobile device (make sure your site is mobile friendly) if you’re not on the web they will find your competitors instead.
Search Engine Optimization Tabs, labels and keywords in your website will help search engines position you on page one. Consider what phrases and words you want to be found online and include these words and phrases in your website and back office meta tags and descriptions. Put yourself in your customer’s mindset – what would they put into a search engine to find your business.
Google Pay Per Click Paid for advertising on Google searches is one way to drive traffic to your website – it works by you bidding on key words that a user might be searching for – e.g. business consultant London. If you have sufficient budget to bid for the keywords or phrase your ad will appear at the top of the page or down the side. Google Ads can make it easier and quicker to show the world what is unique about your business, so you can reach customers searching for what you offer. Search Google for Google Ads for more info.
Facebook Setting up a business page is really easy and a great way to get new customers and build a loyal following. Useful features include “check in” which lets customer’s friends know where they are, and invitations to events which can be sent directly to anyone who likes your page, and the popular feature - book an appointment.
Small Business Marketing Ideas
Twitter Carry on the banter and conversation even when your customers have left the building or your website. Use this social platform to drive traffic to new things on your website, YouTube, blogs, and Facebook pages. Use relevant #hashtags and links.
Billboards When Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright, founders of Innocent Smoothie, wanted to get the products into Tesco, it is rumoured that they found out where the chief buyer lived and secured a billboard hoarding on the buyer’s route to work. This was a big investment from their small budget, and they kept their art there for a fortnight. This corresponded with a direct marketing campaign which eventually opened the door for them.
The perception from the Tesco buyer was that the company was much bigger than they really were, they assumed a national billboard campaign - they didn't know it was just one.
Linked In If you have a corporate or business customer base this is a great place to make strategic contacts that you can contact directly, or post interesting articles and links, to promote your offering.
Pinterest Pictures of products, services, and happy customers – this is a great platform to show off your best assets. One of the original social photo sites and a great place to promote your business.
Newspapers Your local rag or the national press will reach your target audience. Wherever possible try and get editorial rather than a paid for ad. A compromise is advertorial where you pay for an advert, but you get an interesting piece, written to promote your business, normally run alongside your ad. Consider your target market - which paper would work to promote your business? – consider the cost as the larger the audience the larger the price normally.
Broadcast Media Local radio can be a really effective way of getting your message out there. Pick time slots that are appropriate for your target market.
General email marketing Everyone's inboxes are a bit congested these days with offers. Be sure your beautiful, crafted email with a generic subject line like “This month's newsletter” is guaranteed to be ignored. Boost your email read rate by using imaginative headlines and titles to get your customers, new and old, clicking open like crazy to read your latest news and offers. Don’t send too many emails to customers, and ensure you comply with GDPR opt in rules.
Database building Make it part of every day to find opportunities for you and your team to build your customer database. This information can be used to market and promote your business directly to your existing and potential customers.
Blogs – short for weblogs These are a popular way of adding value to your target audience by giving insight into things of interest to them. It's also a great place to establish yourself as a character or expert in your industry, writing interesting content and facts your customers might be searching for. Having a blog attached to your main website is a great way to add content, enabling search engines like google to find and index your website and new content more regularly, and a simple way to add more information on your services, products and offers.
How To Successfully Promote My New Business
Videos The accessibility of YouTube (one of the biggest search engine tools) and the ease of recording footage on your smart phone makes this a “no brainer” for promoting all aspects of your business that lend themselves to being seen rather than described.
Google My Business (was known as Google Places for Business). Promote your business for free by creating a profile on Google My Business. Not only will your details appear more often in relevant google searches, but you can upload photos and a company description to help promote your business online.
Business Advice By Kieran Perry Business Advisor