Building a Strategy to Increase Sales for your e-Shop (part 2 of 2)

In the first part of this article the focus was on the audience. Understanding who they are. Create personas, categories, that will help on your communication strategy to them.

This will give you guidance on the content you have one your site, it is not just to fill a page with content.

Reminder of why you are investing time and resources to this.

We have information at our fingertips, and instead of asking your friends, family or colleagues their optioning today we are reading reviews on the product and the retailer. Our decisions on were to purchase is on what we read, who wrote the reviews, ease of accessing this information and how user friendly the retailer is.

A website should not only provide information but for an opportunity for you to have a presence without being in-front of the customer. This provides the ability to speak to potential customer in a way they will be able to interpret what you are trying to communicate.

Without have the live interaction you rely on what you put on your site. You will not be able to please everyone but if your categories and target you will reach the masses.

In this part of the article the focus is on the communication channels and finally technology.

What does communication channels mean? It refers to the way that organization send you messages, such at telephone, text messaging, social media, emails…etc. Knowing your audience can help you find out their preferred means of receiving information.

Use the Right Communication Channel for your Audience

There is no wrong or right answer to which channel to adopt. It varies based on the business strategy each time. Communication, content and experience is the key, since you want to be noticed by your customers and to keep them coming back.

With each advantage there is a disadvantage, on the approach you take. This is why the communication strategy must be revisited. When the strategy is revisited take into account the first part of this article, know your audience.

There are a lot of factor that might have an individual change their preferences and as indicated due your research, a survey, patterns…etc.

Multichannel Communications

Engage consumers by sharing content across multiple touchpoints, including web, apps, social media, email, etc.

This kind of communication focuses on proving more and more information to the customer.

The messaging might vary depending on the method of delivery. This might allow a more flexible communication each channel can have the possibility of a different type of messaging. There is a high control you will need to ensure for example, the content being sent out to whom and how..

Cross-channel Communications

Allow consumers to see multiple touchpoints as part of the same brand. In return, this enables businesses to craft a ‘single view of the customer’. It is a way to deliver customer-focused messages across all available communication channels this involves unifying the organization’s message across selected channels.

Using cross-channel communication enable integrated messaging using real-time and non-real-time messaging to reach each customer with the way they would like to receive incoming messages. One of the benefits is customer attention but you need to know your customer to be able to communicate with them the way they want to.

Omni-channel Communications

Refer to a singular experience for consumers across all channels. Essentially, thinking of the brand in terms of the customer’s perspective. Omni-channel refers to unified communications across multiple channels and focuses on the customer experience.

This approach allows consumers to have a seamless brand experience, as content is optimized for each channel and device. Organizations with an omni-channel approach allow consumers to migrate from channel to channel in a consistent and seamless way, as they are connected and integrated with each other.

Communication channels

There are many different methods of communicating and once you have what to send the decision is the how. Which method do I use to deliver my message? Here are a few items to consider that will direct you on the vehicle of deliver, SMS, chat, email, telephone, social…etc.

Who is the audience you are targeting and what will their reaction be?
How long is the message?
How compel is the message you are sending out?
Is the information confidential?
Let us not forget the cost.

Just a few items to consider that will help you determine what message with that audience how should I reach them.

What about Technology

You should always remember that business teams and technology division should work hand in hand. The business might have the best strategy to drive growth, but without the technology in place, how would you target the right audience? How would you automate the tasks? How quickly could you change your strategy? How would you provide the right product to your customers, that they would find useful? How would you keep them interested, when they are anonymous on your site?

The site should have a presence on all the different devices one might access. The majority of us have multiple devices and access then throughout the day. This can be smartphone, laptop, smart TV, smart watch just to name a few. This means that the experience must be similar and memorable in each device.

Know that you have a communication strategy what know. I have the customer on my site. Now is second last key point, making the customer feel at ease and the experience was build for them.

Beside the look and feel of the site, it is to distinguish that customer over the general population. In the beginning of the articles’ part I, we touch upon this with Reccodo. Reccodo is a personalization SaaS tool. Having a true personalization tool that is run on Machine Learning will showcase product that is real-time and the needs at that moment, even if the customer is anonymous.

The final stage is the follow up. This does fall under communication or you can have the help of technology to automate a message to the customer.

Remember, you must engage the consumers visiting your site, so make sure they feel like they are unique, like each one of them is your top priority.

There are many tools, applications, add ins, that can assist with this. Choose the one that will be a fit for you and ensure that it really helps boost your sales. Finding the right fit for you and your environment is a challenge but it is attainable. Review different marketplaces, see the trends, ask colleagues in your industry, at tradeshows, etc.

Your only purposes should be to ensure that it is a true solution and not just a service. I come across ‘solutions’ (in personalization tools) that deem themselves as smart solution to showcase a ribbon for personalization, but it turns out they have an individual manually entering the product list to be paired off. Or they are presenting themselves as a personalization tool, but really it is just another marketing tool.

With AI we have the possibility to continuously evolve our tool by learning our customers. And from this kind of service you will see the real difference in your sales.

Final thought

At the end of the day, everyone wants to increase sales, improve the customer experience and repeat customers. We use technology to help you create the best fit strategy for them. Through our services you can provide a unique personalized experience to your customers, make them feel special. This way they will keep visiting and buying from your e-shop.

Communication strategy must be a continuous review and evolution, as your customers have all the information at their fingertips, and they will surf the net to find the best quality product for the best price. Stay relevant!

As for technology, ask questions, ask for a trial (more than a week), short term / long term results, set KPI’s, always review them, ask for feedback from your customers. Make sure you take advantage of the existing solutions as much as possible!

Tina Gremou

Digital Strategies

Oktabit

Have you read Part 1 of our Strategy? If not you can read it right here.