Posted by Sachin Agrawal
Times have changed for ecommerce businesses, whereas it was once new and innovative to offer products online, it is now the norm and customers have a vast selection of companies vying for their attention.
So, if you want to become a successful ecommerce business then you need to develop a strategy for attracting the attention of your clients and that means knowing exactly who you need to be selling to and how to sell to them.
1. Define your target audience
The first step in this strategy is to define the general audience you are selling to – does the nature of your product or service mean you are selling to businesses (B2B) or to consumers (B2C), or to both? For example, if you are selling garden furniture then you will largely be B2C but if you are selling office furniture then you will mainly be B2B.
When you have targeted your audience you already know whether you need to do business to business marketing online or business to consumer marketing.
Now you can start to identify the type, or types, of businesses or people best suited to your product or service.
2. Ask yourself the following questions
What is your product/service? These questions apply to any business, but let’s say you are running an online shop selling women’s clothes for the 18-30 age group.
Who will the product connect with and appeal to? In general you are looking to connect with young women that love fashion and like to shop online.
How will the product be used? You are selling clothes so obviously people want to see how they are going to look when being worn, not just on a rack. So make sure your site has plenty of pictures of models wearing your designs, rather than just the clothes themselves.
3. Do your research
Now let’s say that you are selling golf equipment. Golf is a sport that appeals to both genders and all generations so you have a very wide target market. If you are clever, you will narrow this down a bit and offer products that appeal to a particular section of the golfing community. Think of your perfect customer and then ask yourself the following questions:
What is their age?
What is their gender?
What is their occupation?
What is their educational background?
What is their family situation? Married? Single? Children?
What are their hobbies and interests?
Once you have the answers to these questions, you will have a much better idea of where to focus your marketing attention.
4. Build up your website focusing on your target customer
For this stage let’s take the example of a website that sells video games – a sector that has its biggest market amongst young, single men who spend a lot of time on computers and consoles. Consider the following areas:
Website design – You need to think about the name of your website, design, layout and logo. It should be something interactive and male-oriented, as well as eye-catching and colorful.
Price – Are you concentrating on bargain basement games that have been out for some time, or the newest releases that will attract the highest prices? Think about your target market and price accordingly.
Additional value – Think about some other interests your target customers might have and include some additional sections on your online shopping website. For example, a gaming blog, a news page or a review section covering the latest releases.
5. Distribution and message
Whatever you are selling. Once you have targeted your audience, you are more likely to find the right channels form marketing online business and can promote your site accordingly.
If you are selling women’s clothes then you could consider fashion websites, shows and blogs. A golf website could be promoted through golf magazines and course advertising, whilst a games business may be best marketed through social media and gaming sites.
Would you put more emphasis on email and mobile marketing for your e-commerce business or would you choose indirect channels.
Also, think about the message you will pass on though the channels you have chosen. What are you actually offering to the customer that they can’t get elsewhere?
It may be exclusive products, unbeatable prices or quick delivery but try to identify what actually sells your service to your target audience and concentrate on that.
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