Marie Nieves
Ever since the pandemic hit, even the smallest local companies have moved online to reach their customers more easily and to stay available even during lockdowns and other restrictions. Other companies have made the switch ages ago, only to discover that the many benefits of selling online come with as many obstacles: the market is overflowing with brands, customers are getting pickier, and technology is quickly evolving.
To succeed today, it’s not enough to stick to the rules that were relevant even as little as five years ago. With new trends and customer needs come new expectations imposed on e-commerce brands. It’s best to perceive them as opportunities and go with the flow of innovation to help your business grow. Here’s where you can start!
Choosing a niche
Unless your business has been around for ages and you already have a well-established brick-and-mortar presence, you should consider narrowing down your reach. Specializing in a particular e-commerce niche helps transform your business’s image into one of authority and credibility. It allows you to fine-tune all your targeting efforts online, and to always be there for people who need you most.
Selecting a niche means that you’ll offer fewer products to fewer people, but that you’ll also be able to narrow down your marketing outreach and differentiate your business accordingly. Unless you really want to compete with companies like Amazon and sell everything to everyone, in which case you’re plummeting your chances to rise above such competition.
Local SEO
Running a small, local company means that you need to position your e-commerce brand carefully and with your location in mind. That is why 2021 and 2022 alike will be marked by an increase in location-specific SEO strategies. In particularly competitive regions and cities like Sydney, AU, e-commerce brands need to focus on Sydney SEO strategies that will position them higher in the SERPs for the local demographic.
Depending on how Sydneysiders prefer to conduct their research and shop online, that means that Sydney-friendly SEO tactics will differ from those in other cities and countries. Start by researching your local audience thoroughly so that you can improve your ranking, but also your local reputation and visibility.
Enabling m-commerce
Considering the increase in mobile sales and all other mobile interactions, your e-commerce brand should consider elevating the mobile experience for your customers in the upcoming period. It’s also time to go beyond the website and consider other, mobile-specific tactics like creating a dedicated mobile app for your business to sell directly to customers, and empowering m-commerce.
Focus on building secure mobile transactions to help customers simplify their decision-making process. The more you improve the entire m-commerce process, the easier it becomes for your business to land repeat buys and new customers alike. Work with trusted payment outlets and banking institutions, but also make sure that you offer diverse payment gateways that don’t require complex steps. It’s best to keep it simple and straightforward, and your customers will gladly come back to your store for more.
Ongoing content output
Too many e-commerce brands focus on paid ads to gain more traction, while in reality, slow and steady in the form of content wins the e-commerce race. As much as modern customers want to get immediate access to your products, your site should by no means serve as nothing more than a selling tool. It should be there to educate your customers, inform them of relevant changes, and help them lead better lives.
Of course, content helps you rank higher, too, so the added benefit of better SEO will help you maximize the usefulness of your content creation. With regular blog pieces, videos, infographics, and the like, you can reach wider audiences, engage them in meaningful ways, and improve your brand’s reputation in one fell swoop.
Using social media
Even though selling is your primary goal, you also need to keep in mind that people won’t respond to brands that don’t have a personality and a desire to interact with customers. This is where lively, ongoing social media interactions can help you build audience engagement, interest, and visibility.
Add to that, you can leverage lasting influencer bonds to portray your brand in a new light and inspire even more trust on social media. It’s important to play the long game and slowly reach more people with social, so that you can start meaningful conversations, spot opportunities to provide your expertise for free, post value-driven updates, and get people to participate in everything you create online.
From improving your brand’s visibility in search engines and in the eyes of your audience, all the way to improving your sales and overall ROI, these tactics are considered essential for any growth-oriented e-commerce brand. It doesn’t matter how small your company is or what you sell online, as long as you invest in the right strategies, you’ll be able to position your business properly and become more successful over time
