It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced business owners to dramatically reinvent the way they market to their customers. Brick and mortar retailers have experienced significant difficulty during these times, and it has become necessary to modify retail marketing strategies in order to help keep businesses stay open.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s take a look at three simple strategies to help boost your online retail sales.
1. Place a Heavy Emphasis on Delivery/Pickup
CDC and local government regulations, as well as the inherent risks of visiting public places, have drastically reduced the number of in-store sales retailers make. As a result, this has led to a shift toward online shopping.
In order to accommodate your customers as much as possible, you’ll need to strive to achieve two goals:
- Eliminate risk
- Optimize convenience
Retail businesses that have remained successful during this time have offered free shipping and returns on most of their items, allowing them to eliminate risk to the customer and compete with big e-commerce solutions like Amazon. They also typically provide customers with the option to have the item shipped directly to their house, or the opportunity to use contactless pickup if the customer lives locally.
By eliminating the risk and optimizing for convenience, you will make your customer’s shopping experience as easy and pleasant as possible during a difficult time.
2. Digital Marketing Is the New Normal
As a smaller business, you will likely find that you’ll need to focus heavily on digital marketing if you want to have a sufficient level of success from online sales. This also means that you’ll have to shift toward an online sales platform, like Amazon,or utilize your own on your small business website.
Regardless of how you use the Internet to increase sales, you will need to research your audience in order to determine how to target them best. Unless your company already has a solid digital retail marketing strategy in place, it’s not likely that people will find your company on their own.
So, you’ll need to ensure you understand the demographic information of your audience.
Such as:
- Age
- Interests/hobbies
- Geographical location
- Annual income
This information will provide you with a solid foundation to use for online ads, content, and more. Take advantage of Google’s free Keyword Planner tool to help you get started.
Once you know who your audience is, the marketing content you create should be tailored to their needs, location, and the way they communicate.
For example, if you sell surf gear, you won’t advertise surfboards to people who live in land-locked states. Just as a ski shop owner wouldn’t advertise winter coats to folks who live in Miami.
3. Leverage Social Media
Many people are quarantined at home and spending more time on the Internet than ever before. With the increased use of social media, Facebook and Instagram have become important tools to help sell products.
Social media provides you with a channel to directly interact with your audience. This allows you to showcase new products, make business-related announcements, and share content related to a product or service, to a captive audience.
For example, write a Facebook post about a new product and link it back to the product sales page on your website. Or create an Instagram story showing one of your products in action.
Encourage conversations around your posts and engage with your social media audience, maintaining your brand’s voice.
Even after the pandemic, you’ll find that building your social following will have a positive impact on your overall sales.
Reworking Your Retail Marketing Strategies Can Seem Difficult…
But it doesn’t have to be.
With these simple retail marketing strategies in mind, you’ll be well on your way toward laying the foundation for future success.
This is, however, only the tip of the iceberg that is internet marketing. Want to learn more about digital marketing and how we can help? Get in touch with us today to see how we can help grow your business online and (hopefully soon!) in store.
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