7 Strategies for Gaining Loyal Customers for Your Online Business

Consider the Pareto principle, commonly known as the 80-20 rule: 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. While these figures may differ somewhat from one company to another, experienced business owners can testify that repeat customers are responsible for the bulk of their success.

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So how can you acquire more of these high-converting customers? This article examines 7 practical techniques you can implement right away in your own online business:

Make Use of Social Applications to Build Brand Awareness

Out of sight, out of mind. In a world where countless distractions and competitors are vying for the affections of your customers, social applications offer a powerful solution for positioning your brand. Use social media platforms to actively engage your customers, letting them know there’s a real person behind the logo. You can also use e-mail newsletters to great advantage by creating helpful content and keeping customers posted about upcoming sales. Including incentives such as product coupons within your newsletters will encourage your customers to stay subscribed. Make use of RSS widgets on your website and invite customers to subscribe to your blog.

Make Sure Your Company Policies Validate and Protect the Customer

Having overly rigid policies in place can be a business hazard. Many customers simply won’t buy from a company with a no-returns policy. This is especially true online, where customers can’t actually see or touch a product until it’s delivered to them. Be as flexible as possible.

Offer Incentives at Every Opportunity

Let your customers know you value their business by rewarding them. You might offer an incentive, such as a gift certificate, to a customer who refers you to a friend. Besides creating a positive experience for existing customers, this has the added benefit of drawing in new clients and promoting your brand by word-of-mouth.

Another great way to offer incentives is to have a savings program in place for your most loyal buyers. By rewarding good business, your customers will view a sales transaction as an investment rather than an expense.

Make Your Website Approachable

Approachability is a key factor in building trust. Make it easy for customers who visit your website to contact you, and be available for questions for as many hours of the day as possible. Respond quickly and personally to e-mails rather than using an autoresponder. Besides an e-mail address, your website contact page should include your phone number and a business address. Consider using a live chat application on your website to address immediate problems.

Having a comprehensive FAQ section and an About Us section on your website can also be very helpful in alleviating the concerns of first-time buyers. Simply being open with your customers will establish your reputation as a professional, and new visitors will feel safer knowing you’re not some kind of fly-by-night scam.

Keep in Touch Year-Round

Don’t just send chocolates on holidays. Get in touch with your customers on a regular basis – ask them if they’re happy with their latest purchase. Don’t underestimate the power of small talk. The more you engage your customers, the more quickly you will build a trust relationship while getting to know a lot about them in the process. Simply listening to your customers will open up opportunities to make them feel valued and win their loyalty. This might come in the form of a wedding or a graduation, for which you might send a letter or a gift. Get creative.

Be Willing to Negotiate With Difficult Customers

Handle customer complaints as soon as they arise. Be prepared to be flexible in providing solutions, even if this means bending the rules of your regular policies. If a customer posts a negative review online, you can harness this to your advantage by responding promptly and politely and resolving the issue as reasonably as possible. Other customers will trust you more if they see that you’re willing to work with buyers to ensure they’re satisfied with your product or service. In this way, uncalled-for negative reviews can become a positive marketing tool.

Poll Your Customers

There’s no better way to do market research than to go directly to your customers and ask them how you can improve your product or service. One of the simplest ways to do this is by adding a poll application to your sales page. Simple checkout polls are less hassle for the customer than a lengthy survey sent several days after a purchase requiring them to fill out a lot of personal details. With a quick poll, you might simply ask how a customer’s experience was and how you might improve on it the next time around. You should also follow up with your customers a day or so after their purchase to make certain they’re satisfied with their product.

By taking advantage of every opportunity to strengthen relationships with existing customers and to win the trust of new ones, you’ll be able to position yourself as the go-to guy for your product or service.

Essential Conversion Tips

There are many ways to drive traffic towards your e-commerce website. Search engine optimization can move your site closer to the top of the search results, pulling in droves of interested visitors. Social media can generate buzz for your brand and a good email list can help keep prospects informed and interested. None of these techniques are worth much, however, if they don’t convert into a sale.

When you’re first starting out, it’s a common error to focus on traffic rather than on leads and sales. True, traffic is the lifeblood of any online enterprise — but only if you can establish a good conversion rate. These tips will help your enterprise to turn clicks into real sales.

Every successful enterprise starts with a solid and effective plan. The same goes for Web-based enterprises. Determine what you’re offering, how you’ll deliver it and what makes your business outstanding. Think about the elements your site will need to communicate with your visitors and what they’ll need in order to make a purchase. The better your focus at the beginning, the less patchy, fragmented or confusing your site will be.

If your site is already up and running, the first item on your checklist should be your page load times. If there’s one thing that will send prospective customers fleeing, it’s a page that takes too long to load completely. Even a fraction of a second can be enough to cause your visitors to disengage. By streamlining your design and getting rid of any extraneous elements, you can shorten load times and make certain that you’re not keeping your customers waiting.

While multimedia elements such as audio and video can add value to your site, they can also be distracting and irritating. Media should not play automatically or obscure other elements when it launches. If the first thing your visitors have to do when they visit your site is close down an intrusive video or animation, they won’t be well disposed towards buying from you.

Next, examine your site’s overall usability. Your color, font and background choices can affect readability — ditch any low-contrast color schemes, distracting patterns or tiny typefaces. Interestingly, using a larger font size has been shown to improve conversion rates in many cases.

There should be a smooth path from your landing page to the point where a customer can place an order. If you make the process of buying your products too complicated, many people will be discouraged before they ever get as far as your checkout. Include clear pricing for every item and make sure there are easy-to-follow links to different products or sections. You should always include a site map — this is helpful to humans and also to the web crawlers that index your site for search engines like Google.

If you have a lot of different items for sale, don’t try to cram them all onto the first page. Catalog them and make sure that you have a fast, effective search system. Don’t limit the results per page too stringently — consider making the default 75 or 100 items rather than 10 or 20. You could even use an endless scroll, since most people are happier to scroll down the page than they are to click link after link to find the item they want. Just make sure that your automated scrolling element isn’t knocking navigation links off the bottom of the screen.

This final point can never be stressed too much: Registration should always be optional. Trying to force your customers to set up an account for no real reason can seriously damage your sales. Studies have shown that even if a prospective customer has selected their items and is ready to pay, telling them they have to register an account to complete their transaction will cause almost one-third of them to abandon their purchases. Only ask for the minimum amount of information you need to provide your customers with the items they want and reassure them that their privacy will be respected. Offer the opportunity to set up an account if they wish but always give them the option to check out without registering.

Instead, provide social media integration for your visitors. Giving people an easy way to link their Google Plus or Facebook accounts with your site is a more productive way of creating connections than adding an unnecessary registration step.

By keeping websites simple and avoiding common pitfalls such as unnecessary registration, Web-based businesses can avoid losing valuable sales. This article aims to address that problem by offering some helpful advice for those new to Internet marketing and e-commerce. It outlines some general ways in which conversion rates can be improved by making the sales process easier for customers to navigate.

Social Media Tone – Be Careful What You Say and How You Say It

In the world of social media, one of the biggest keys to success is effectively establishing a rapport with followers, friends, and, ultimately, customers. In many circumstances, one of the best ways to do this is to connect with these groups in a conversational, social tone that makes them feel more like they’re having a conversation with a friend than being sold too. That casual, informal tone can do wonders for establishing strong social media connections, but it can also backfire if social media operators aren’t careful to be mindful of what they’re saying and how they say it.

One of the most dangerous situations this can arise from is when social media posts or messages contain a negative tone or connotation. Sometimes the subtlest negativity is enough to cause a problem, even if intentions are good. It might seem like a good idea to make a backhanded comment about a competitor or go on a minor rant about the deficiencies of their products or services, but the reality is that doing so offers almost no upside and has the potential to not only cost a business social media followers, but also to damage their brand image and reputation.

First of all, social media users aren’t stupid, and if they see a company making negative comments or being condescending in regards to a competitor, they’re going to immediately see the bias that exists and discount the comments based on it. So even if the poorly chosen tone doesn’t have any negative consequences, it isn’t going to work either. Secondly, by taking a negative or condescending tone, a business risks turning off its existing social media following and it isn’t unheard of for otherwise loyal followers to voice their displeasure, creating a backlash.

The fact is that people just generally don’t like negativity. For the same reason that independent voters regularly indicate that they find political attack ads to be distasteful and off-putting, consumers don’t like it when businesses take the low road. It’s highly important for employees tasked with operating social media profiles to remember that when they post they speak for the company. Offhand negative comments that might seem harmless in a normal context can have unexpected consequences when delivered on behalf of a business. Diplomacy rules when it comes to speaking on behalf of a company in the social media environment.

So when posting for business purposes, it’s important to remember that a snarky remark about a competitor likely has no upside potential whatsoever, but could have significant negative consequences. There is nothing worse than having social media users turning on the company they follow, and putting out that fire is often embarrassing and difficult. So instead of attempting to pump up a business by putting down the competition, companies should focus on the quality of their own products or services and let that quality speak for itself. Not only will it result in a stronger, more loyal following, but it eliminates the dangers that negative social media tone can invite, and that kind of risk mitigation can be invaluable in a world where appearances are everything.

5 Social Media Tips to Help Promote Your New Business

As we blast into the age of digital marketing, new businesses have a lot to learn. While traditional marketing tactics still have their place, it’s not nearly enough to propel a new business into the limelight. There is much more that has to be done, and it starts with social media.

Why Social Media?

With the growing popularity of social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, businesses have picked up on the trend. Creating a profile and actively engaging in these sites provide a great way for new businesses to get in touch with their customers and build a digital following. It can also help build up your brand and establish instant feedback and a deeper customer connection, too.

You Have to Have a Plan

If you want to stand a chance in this world, you need to put together a solid digital marketing plan. What if you don’t have one? Don’t worry – it’s actually easy to get everything pieced together once you know how social media works.

To help you get started, take a look at the 5 social media tips below. Pay attention to each one, as they can make the difference between your business taking off or watching it fall flat on its face!

Tip #1 – Study Other Businesses and How They Use Social Media

Before you think about hopping on the social media train, it’s best to see how others are capitalizing on it. Take a look at any large, successful business and take notes. Make sure to look at things like:

How they setup their profiles on each platform
How they interact with their customers
What type of marketing tactics they use (and what garners the most response)

By looking closely at businesses that are successfully using social media to enhance their image and increase their brand awareness, you will be able to use it to your advantage. It’s a necessary process and one that will help you formulate your own plan for success!

Tip #2 – Only Use the Platforms You Plan to Update Frequently

One of the biggest mistakes a new business can make with social media is to spread themselves too thin. They often do this by creating profiles on a variety of platforms without capitalizing on each one (or understanding how they work). Eventually, they forget about certain profiles, which can lead to dormancy (i.e. accounts that are unused or have low-activity). When this happens, it can put a stain on your efforts.

How can you cure this problem? The solution is simple. Only stay active on the sites that you plan to use and keep updated on a regular basis. Anything less will make your brand appear less established and can give off bad vibes, which may send potential customers running for the hills.

Tip #3 – Reach Out and Connect With Your Audience

The fastest way to success with social media is to interact with your audience. The more you can make a prospect feel closer to your business, the better your chances are of turning them into a long-term customer.

Connect with your audience and talk to them. Ask them plenty of questions that will make them respond. Make it about them, not you. The more interaction and influence you have, the easier it will be for you to get results and build a large following!

Tip #4 – Don’t Make it All About You

No one likes a business that stays in promotion mode 100% of the time. While you should always aim to keep it professional, don’t be afraid to have a little fun with it! Post content that your target market can relate to. Get creative and find ways to incorporate your business into it in some way. As long as you don’t come off as overly promotional, people will appreciate you more for it.

Tip #5 – Let Your Followers Get Involved

People participate in social media because of the interaction. To increase your customer interaction and gain more followers, you need to find ways for your target market to get involved.

How can you do it? Here are a few quick and easy options:

Hold unique contests that both promote your business and encourage people to get involved.
Don’t hold back when asking customers to share your content. Create the kind of stuff that make people want to share it. It’s the best way to make something go viral, which can explode your following.
Tell your customers you want to hear from them, and make it easy for them to access you. People are much more likely to get involved when they know their efforts will be reciprocated.

These marketing tactics are easy to implement, yet they will go far in helping you build your business through social media. Give them a shot and see what they can do for you!

Become a Social Media Maestro Today

Depending on what type of business you operate, choosing to skip out on social media may not hurt it, but it definitely won’t help anything. As long as you start small and slowly get the hang of it, you will quickly see how much of an impact it can have when everything comes together. The opportunity to reach more customers is there. All you have to do is capitalize on it. The rest, as they say, is history!

The Hashtag: Pervasive, Powerful and Indispensable

The “hashtag” is a powerful tool that originated on Twitter and has since spread to other social media sites. At its most basic, the hashtag is a word or group of words that follows the pound sign and is used to assign messages to a particular topic. Casual users utilize hashtags to organize their messages and make them searchable under a given search term. Internet marketers can use them to solidify their online presence and increase brand awareness, although many marketers remain ignorant of the power of this tool.

The surface-level benefits of hashtags are many and immediate. Most importantly, placing a hashtag within a tweet makes it visible to anyone searching for that hashtag. Furthermore, when other users click on the hashtag, they are taken to a list of all other tweets that contain it. This makes it easy for users to organize their tweets under a single banner, making their message more memorable to other Twitter members. Twitter users can place a hashtag anywhere within a tweet.

Internet marketers are well advised to embrace hashtag technology. Awareness of the hashtag and the power that it represents is increasing. During the 2013 Super Bowl, for instance, 38% of advertisements contained hashtags. If a marketer is not using hashtags, the chances are good that their competitors are. Additionally, other social networks including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr have adopted it. Functionality of the tool remains largely the same across platforms.

Hashtag usage still occurs most often on Twitter, and full-scale adoption on social network Facebook has been slow. However, many Internet marketers anticipate Facebook adoption to increase rapidly as casual users learn of the benefits of the tool. Twitter marketers can search for a hashtag to use on hashtag.org. Anyone can use a hashtag, and there is no need to register one before use. Consequently, marketers are encouraged to create a hashtag that is both relevant to their brand and not in use. Facebook users can look for any hashtag using the site’s search functionality found at the top of almost every page.

Marketers wishing to take advantage of this powerful tool should ensure that they are using the same hashtag on Twitter and other social media platforms. Using multiple hashtags confuses fans and reduces brand recognition. A single hashtag also allows marketers to gain a clear bird’s-eye view of all the discussion concerning their brand.

To begin working toward hashtag cohesion, marketers are advised to use the same hashtag on their tweets or posts for several weeks. During this time, it is likely that fans will pick up on this gentle prompting and follow suit. To further raise awareness of their brand, marketers can use their new hashtag in a promotional campaign. Promotions, whether on Twitter, Facebook or any other channel create heightened awareness of the pertinent brand for their duration. Facebook has dropped their requirement that contests be run through dedicated apps, making it easier than ever to run promotions.

To take advantage of trending topics or fads—and the traffic they generate—marketers can simply identify the hashtag associated with the event and use it in a tweet, along with their own hashtag. This tactic results in their hashtag showing up in the more popular hashtag’s tweet thread. It is important, however, that users integrate the trending hashtag into their tweets in a natural way.

Once users gain basic proficiency with hashtags, they should branch out into wider tags. This tactic may be especially effective on Facebook or anywhere else where many people are posting to a general yet popular hashtag, such as “#summer,” “#baseball,” or “#fastfood.” Users can simply integrate the wider hashtag naturally into a tweet or post that contains their own hashtag. This is an excellent way to reach new fans and customers. All Internet marketers are encouraged to take full use of hashtags. They provide an efficient manner to reach new leads and keep customers engaged.

Five Common Social Media Mistakes

More and more small businesses are catching on to the fact that social media is more than the latest hype, and they are beginning to see its value for marketing purposes. Larger businesses have paved the way for these smaller businesses to follow. They have done this by making a lot of mistakes from which small businesses can learn a few valuable lessons. Below is an overview of five common mistakes you should try to avoid making with your business.

Mistake 1: Constantly offering special deals.

While daily or weekly offers are no doubt appealing to consumers, you run the risk of your business developing the reputation of being an online discount store. Be sure to offer added value to consumers beyond being the cheapest. Your goal is to get people interested in buying from you for other reasons than just price.

Mistake 2: Waiting for consumers to find you.

Just because your business has a Facebook page and a Twitter account, that doesn’t mean that consumers will spontaneously drop by. Setting up a social media account or two alone is not enough. You will need to put some time and effort into the various social media channels by engaging in conversations with potential fans or followers.

Mistake 3: Posting long (news) items.

It is best to avoid posting entire articles on Facebook or Google+, no matter how interesting or relevant the information might be to your fans or followers. Instead, you should post a teaser. This usually consists of a short introduction and a link to the relevant web page.

Mistake 4: Frequently organizing competitions.

If you run competitions all the time, consumers will start to feel less emotionally connected with your brand. In time, they might not even remember what products or services you offer. Instead you will forever be associated with the chance of winning something. You can, however, run competitions periodically, as long as you make sure that you leave plenty of time in between competitions and you never run two competitions at the same time.

Mistake 5: Blocking negative feedback.

Larger companies have been known to ignore or even remove negative comments by consumers. Funnily enough, consumers are suspicious of businesses that receive only positive comments all of the time. When consumers see some negative comments as well, they get a much better impression of the business, because their suspicion that the comments might be fake falls away completely.

Social media is a great marketing tool for small businesses, but when things go wrong, they go wrong very quickly. With social media, your mistakes are there for everyone to see. That is why it is important to set out a clear strategy before you begin using social media. Some sound practical judgment will stand you in good stead.