When it comes to getting online sales, it seems a lot of small businesses are really struggling to excel in what is needed to secure a customer purchase. There are 4 big reasons why your business is not getting the online sales it needs to succeed and here they are…
1. Social Media
Struggling to see any kind of conversion results through your social media channels? This could be for many reasons;
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Your customers aren’t using that specific network. Highly unlikely as there will always be customers on each social network, you just need to decide which community responds the best to what you have to offer.
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You always talk about yourself. One of the biggest reasons why fans unlike a Facebook page is because a brand over populates their news feed with information ONLY about their business.
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You’re delivering the wrong message. You need to define your target customer before deciding on what to post on social networks.
2. Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is the use of blogging, email marketing, the use of infographics and other content marketing tools. Why isn’t Inbound Marketing working for you? It could be because of the following things;
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You either don’t even have a blog on your website or you only update occasionally. You MUST blog once a week for Google to rank your business based on fresh content.
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Your email newsletter is being sent out at the wrong time, with the wrong content and images. When looking at ways to manage your email marketing, you need to consider the best possible time to send out the newsletter along with most engaging content, subject line and colours to compliment your business.
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You don’t know how to create an Infographic that is of high quality. To create an engaging Infographic, you will either need to hire a designer to do this or use a tool like Visual.ly to create something worth sharing.
3. Online Engagement
When it comes to engaging online most businesses struggle with;
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Finding Influencers to share their business. Use online engagement tools like Twitter and Forums to find people who are in your industry that could help build brand awareness about your business.
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Understanding the meaning behind a “like” and a “retweet”. If someone has shown an interest in your brand through linking your Facebook page or sharing one of your Tweets, you need to be engaging with that user.
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Keeping on top of your eMails. It is so important that you always respond in a timely manner when possible, especially when it comes to a question about your product or service.
4. SEO
Search Engine Optimisation. It is more than just updating content and using your basic keywords. There is more to SEO than most small businesses even realise;
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Onsite SEO – Did you know that Onsite SEO includes Keywords, Meta Tags, Link Structure, Page Content, Site Map, Navigation, Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools? No. It’s because you MUST do your research or work with an expert to really understand SEO.
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Offsite SEO is more than just engagement, it is about PR, PPC (Pay Per Click), Content, Sentiment and building a Semantic web where you engage with people via mobile and location.
Now you know what you SHOULDN’T do, are you ready to start using all of the tools you have available to build in the right way to build your online sales?
How would you like to, in just one day, learn the best practice for social media and online marketing across the customer acquisition, conversion and retention cycle? I will be holding a Social Media & Internet Marketing Masterclass on the 30th November from 9:30AM – 5:00PM. Get 40% off your ticket when using promotional code GetOnline at the checkout.