How to Increase Online Sales in 2023 – Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital marketing strategies play a significant role in increasing online sales.

The digital marketing strategies are-

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to increase organic traffic to website.
2. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) to bring conversions through Google Ads and Bing Ads.
3. Social Media Marketing to build brand awareness and engage with your audience.
4. Content Marketing to establish your brand as an authority in your industry, driving traffic and building trust.
5. Email Marketing to nurture leads and promote your products or services. Include personalization to generate repeat business.
6. Influencer Marketing to increase brand visibility and generate product reviews.
7. Affiliate Marketing to establish partnerships with affiliates who promote your products on their websites in return for a commission on each sale they generate.
8. Marketplaces – Product listing on marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target to increase sales.

11 Tips to Increase Online Sales in 2023

1. PR and Sponsored content

To gain online visibility for your brand and build authority in your niche, it is important to be visible across various media channels and news websites. Sponsored content and PR news websites can help you do just that. Get your content published in multiple news media outlets and magazine websites. Have your sponsored content or article in high-value blogs about your products and services. PR websites can get information about your business and achievements in Google News, Bing News, and other major publication houses.

If your content is picked up by major publications or authoritative news websites in your industry, you can follow up with them by email and see if they would like to do an independent article on your business. It is good to have a news or press section in the footer of the website for journalists to get in touch with the right person in your company.

2. Magazine Ads (Offline and Online)

Magazine websites and their printed version give you an excellent opportunity to be right in front of people who are most likely to buy your product or services. Have your Ad published in a major magazine in your industry. You can also go for online banner ads on popular websites. Many magazine websites offer extra add-ons in the package to feature in their newsletter ads and social media promotions.

3. Media Kit

Always have an updated version of your media kit. It can help you partner with other players in your industry or companies that complement your business. Develop a business partnership with your Media Kit that showcases the capabilities and achievements of your business. It proves to be a good way to generate an additional source of income for your business.

4. QR Code

QR (Quick Response) codes are highly underrated. Have QR codes with your business website address on your visiting cards, brochures, catalogs, packaging inserts, gift cards, magazine ads, coupon cards, and all the offline material printed by your business. They will direct the potential customers to your landing page/website or app.

5. App Marketing and PWAs

Develop Apps – Depending on your business type, you can develop a simple app for your business and make it live on Apple and Google Play Store. If you believe your business is unsuitable for the app or your budget won’t allow it, consider having a basic informative app that gives information about your business and products with a brand awareness motive.

Promote your app through Google Ads and other app promotion websites. With increasing smartphone usage creating an app for your business will get you more conversions and returning users.

PWAs (Progressive Web Apps)

Another great alternative to apps is PWAs or Progressive Web Apps. PWAs cannot be published in the google play store or apple store since it is simply mobile website with the advantages of a native app. It looks, feels and works like an App, but still, it is a website.

You can have a notification pop-up on your website inviting visitors to install PWA on their device’s home screen (mobile or desktop). The major benefit of PWAs is that they are faster than mobile.

A business that deals with customer demographics consisting of millennial and younger generations who are app savvy benefits most from Apps and PWAs. This demographic is highly inclined towards app and PWAs for regular travel, clothes, shoes, jewelry shopping, etc. Apps and PWAs give businesses a fine medium to interact with users and create a base of regular customers.

6. Competition Analysis

Competition analysis is an important aspect of digital marketing. From pricing to their marketing strategies, product positioning, and target demographics, competition analysis helps you make your business better fulfill customer needs.

Follow your competitors’ social media channels, blogs, and newsletters to see the kind of content they create and why it attracts customers. You can use Google Alerts on your competitor brand terms to track your competitors’ new content and news.

Use competition analysis tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs to track competitor backlinks and gain those backlinks for your own website. For PPC and SEO, get the list of keywords and top pages that get online traffic and device your PPC and SEO strategies around them.

PPC keywords and ad copies are most crucial. Suppose a competitor consistently puts their dollars on a specific keyword or ad copy. In that case, it should signal to you that those products or services are specifically profitable and in-demand with customers.

7. Packaging inserts, sample packs, and postcards

Send packaging inserts to customers with a thank you note, coupon code for their next purchase, and a request for product and merchant review. Packaging inserts with thank you note make customers feel special, and they are more likely to emotionally bond with your business and leave customer reviews. Postcards on special holidays or a personalized gift on a special occasion increase customer loyalty.

Gillette used the sample pack strategy. It sent a sample of a few razors with a couple of blades, some shaving cream, and other items to boys who just turned 18, along with a note “Congratulations on becoming a man!”  This may seem silly, but such thoughtful sample packs and postcards are an awesome way to surprise your customers and make your brand bond with them. An experience like this stays in customers’ memory, which they share with many people.

8. Have a Special Acquisition Day Once a Year

You can choose to use Prime Day, Cyber Monday, or Black Friday as the day to acquire the most number of new customers. However, it is best to create a day and name it after something which closely represents your brand. For example, an online furniture business can call a day ‘Great WoodWork Sale’ that can last for three days. During this period, the company offers the lowest possible price and steep discounts to acquire as many customers as possible. Items can be sold on a no-profit no-loss basis.

The best strategy for such a sale period is to choose ‘loss leader’ categories, and these loss-leader products are sold to customers at rock bottom prices. The products in the ‘loss leader’ categories are usually where the business knows that the customers will need to shop similar or related items in the future. For example, in the baby clothes and diapers category, the company knows that the customer would need to buy more baby clothes sooner or later regularly.

Once many new customers are acquired, the business can retain them by constantly contacting them through newsletters, social media, and display retargeting ads, postcards, free sample packs, and cashback offers. Once the customer has made an account with the business, it can lure them back by recharging their account with reward points, cash backs, and discount offers.

9. Target Audience/ Demographic

To build your brand and market your products or services, it is essential to understand that products do not build brands; customers do. General awareness about your brand and products depends upon who your customers are and what they think of your brand and products.

Understand your existing customers and why they prefer to choose your brand over others in the market to build the perfect marketing strategy to acquire more customers and create loyalty among the existing customer base.

Create buyer persona – Research your customer demographics using Google Analytics. Create individual buyer profiles based on age, location, income level, shopping behavior, interests, and product preferences. You can segregate your customers based on purchase frequency and average order values.

Additional information like social media channels and mode of communication your customers prefer, how they look for products in your niche, what makes a deal attractive for them, and who influences their buying decision can help you refine your buyer personas. Understand who do your customers listen to when making decisions relative to your product. Optimize your product pages.

You can create ‘customer look-a-like’ campaigns to acquire new customers whose shopping preferences closely match your existing customers on Google Ads or social channels. The buyer persona data will enable you to target the audience demographic most likely to make a purchase.

It is also possible to send personalized emails and newsletters to your existing customers by segmenting them according to their buyer personas. Overall it helps to understand your customers’ needs and bond with them.

Implement retargeting ads to re-engage with users who have previously visited your website but did not make a purchase. Show them targeted ads on other websites or social media platforms to remind them of your products and encourage them to return and convert.

10. Pre-order strategy

Allow your customers to pre-order a product with free extra features and benefits. When marketed with all digital marketing channels, pre-orders create a strong buzz around the product, which is essential during the product launch.

For an eCommerce retailer pre-order strategy in close cooperation with the vendor allows its competitive edge and additional online visibility.

11. Business Networking

Digital networking works on the principle of giving more to get more. Online marketing never works in isolation. Refer a complementary business to other businesses in your networks. If you are a health e-commerce company, partner with a high-quality health blog and refer it to other health organizations. Such reference and partnership create strong business relationships and shared business goals.

Co-marketing your business with another business is an underrated marketing technique.  Make business agreements with another company that shares the same or similar customer base but sells a product or service which is complementary or different to your business. Share networks, launch giveaways and promote coupons and products on each other’s websites.

If you get two referrals, try to give four referrals. Giving out business references is as important as gaining credibility and a strong business network.

Online Professional Groups give an excellent opportunity to find suitable partners for your business. Social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook provide you with access to dedicated professional groups to expand your business network and expertise on the subject. Such online groups are especially beneficial for promoting local B2B businesses.

For example, a NewYork based business that sells furniture can benefit from joining online groups with other local New York interior designing businesses.

Sponsoring Local Events for charity, social awareness, and community service provides a golden opportunity to raise brand awareness. It enables you to reach potential customers who were not aware of your business. Create events on social media channels like Facebook and ask your employees and customers to share about your local event. Choose an event and cause that appeals to your target customers. For example, a women’s store might sponsor a breast cancer awareness drive.

Remember, each business is unique, so it’s important to analyze your target audience, set specific goals, and choose the digital marketing strategies that align with your business objectives and resources. Regularly track and measure the effectiveness of your campaigns to make data-driven decisions and optimize your efforts for maximum online sales.