How To Sell Online? 6 tips to save you time and money

How to sell online? In a post-COVID-19 world, the need for an online sales channel has never been greater. However, there are pitfalls to be avoided! To help you, I’ve outlined 6 key points to guide you as you navigate the world of online sales.

1. Serve a niche with a targeted online sales offer

Competing with the big players such as Amazon is really tough, because they have the know-how, experience and scale. However, they focus on the masses, whereas to be successful you need to focus on a specific niche that you can serve in a special way, whether it be fly fishing enthusiasts or spare parts for 1967 Porsche sports cars. You need to find your tribe, understand their needs and serve them in a unique way.

2. Create a unique online sales experience

Once you’ve connected with your chosen niche, you need to create a unique experience which engages them, so they keep coming back for more.

Here are some ideas on how to do this:

• Offer an online video or co-browse consultations, providing personalised and expert advice to your customers – be their personal shopper
• Build a product visualiser or configurator, so they can create and buy their personalised solution on your website
• Provide expert advice in the form of videos and articles which give them the information they require to choose the right products for their needs

The list could go on and on, but the important thing is to create that unique and special experience that engages your niche.

3. Don’t underestimate the cost and time of getting website traffic

Wouldn’t it be great if website traffic just made its way to your door with no effort! Unfortunately, it does not work that way! Whether it be search traffic from Google or social media traffic, you’ll need to produce engaging content and invest in advertising to drive traffic. As you invest you’ll build both your brand and the search authority of your website, which will make things easier, but at that start, every website visitor needs to be earned. The important thing here is to understand the data behind the website visits, so you know that the money you’re spending on advertising is delivering results.

4. Love the digital data and find the insight

One of the biggest benefits of online business is the “snail trail” of data your website users leave. When properly analysed this data provides valuable insights on what’s working, what’s not and how we could make things better. It’s vital that you’re on top of this data and regularly analysing things so you fully understand your business. But, there is a challenge, which leads me to my next point.

5. Model your online sales funnel

There can be so much data available that it’s easy to be overwhelmed. So, you need to identify those key data points which show your site’s performance at a glance. One way to do this is to model your sales funnel.

• You’ll have users entering your website,
• Those who view a product
• Those who add a product to their basket
• Those who start the checkout process
• Those who buy

Of course, not every user who enters the website will buy, but by modelling the funnel you can find the leaks. Once you’ve discovered the source of the leak, you can dig deep to understand why the user is not getting to the next stage of your sales funnel.

If you understand where customers are leaving your site, you can then dig deeper to find why they left. Are they struggling to find a product? Or do they give up at the checkout stage? To get the best out of your online investment, you need to know and understand your funnel data. By doing this, you’ll be making smart investment decisions as opposed to educated guesses.

6. Build, measure, learn and repeat – refining your online sales model

If you’re doing things right, you will have discovered insights in your data and you’ll probably have a hunch of what to do next. However, you need to quickly validate your idea. Free tools, such as Google Optimise, allow you to test ideas quickly. Similar tools are available for paid social and search advertising. This approach means your work is guided by data and insight, meaning you can enjoy consistent improvement as you optimise your online presence.

Found this interesting? I offer a free no-obligation discovery call, go https://thevalueengine.co.uk/letschat, and let’s talk about sorting your digital challenges.