There is expected to be a 200% increase in the e-commerce sales across the globe in the next five years. If you are a new entrant in the e-commerce market and are trying to capitalize this opportunity, you will have to think beyond the traditional marketing and advertising tools. Setting up a store or building a website will not be enough; you will have to put in more efforts and strategic planning to achieve consistent sales. You will need an optimized conversion funnel for your business.
Funnels may sound complicated but in reality, they are not. It is a simple representation of the journey that customers have as they move from being leads to paying customers. It is important that you maximize your e-commerce store profits at every stage of the process. First of all, it should encourage the passage from one stage to another without any delay and you need to plug the funnel exit holes which can cost you sales. If you make it easier for the consumers to move from one stage to another, they will turn into paying customers within no time.
E-commerce funnel and your business
In order to perform an e-commerce funnel, you need an understanding of the store’s funnel a tool that will help measure your performance. If you are able to measure the performance, you will be able to make strategic changes which will increase sales and revenue. There are three levels of the funnel, top, middle and bottom. You need to map the funnel to an appropriate level. The top funnel is the initial stage where new business happens, the prospects become aware of your brand and there is light engagement since consumers are not really aware of your offerings. The middle level is when your prospect engagement increases and they become leads, they try to explore the offerings at a deeper level and there is a chance of purchasing. Lastly, the bottom of the funnel is the final engagement when leads become customers and purchase from your brand. As a business owner, you will be making every attempt to reach the bottom of the funnel and to retain the customers there. The funnel is cone-shaped since not every customer will purchase from you. The bottom of the funnel is where you are trying to push your consumers. At every stage, there will be a few visitors who will leak out. Your goal is an increase in sale and you can use the funnel to achieve the same. For detailed information on how to go about it, you can read the post here.
First of all, you need to get an insight into what do you want to achieve through funnel management. If you are aware of your goal, you will be able to proceed in the right direction. There are different tools you can use to optimize the process. Destination goals are the easiest; they are usually increasing the sales and revenue. An e-commerce funnel can be developed based on the ultimate goals. There are different strategies which are used at different stages of the funnel. Keeping the ultimate goal in mind and the stage where you are at, you can build a strategy. Professional experts can help create a strategy that fits your business needs and will allow you to increase the revenue.
Some of the strategies include Facebook advertising which has specific target options that allow you to reach out to your target audience in a cost-effective manner. You can narrow down the criteria and target audience that is best suited for your brand. Another strategy is organic social media. Many brands in the industry are running after paid media but you can supplement it with organic social media which delivers value and long-term profits. Further, there is influencer marketing which is a powerful method of reaching out to the target consumers. On visual platforms, it allows the generation of a huge ROI by paying the influencers to market your brand or products. Finding influencers for paid promotions has become a very easy task.
It is not easy to get customers for a business, but these strategies can help you ensure that your customers reach the bottom of the funnel. There are many different ways you can reach out to the customers with your brand but it is important to target your niche customer segment. Learn about where your brand stands in the market and choose a strategy that will help you reach out to the target audience in a cost-efficient manner.
