With the COVID-19 crisis spreading all over the world, more and more brands close their brick and mortar shops in favor of online stores and so, the online competition grows. A client recently asked me how we can make their online store stand out and make customers buy more. This is a great question, deserving of a follow-up article here. Learning what makes your target audience tick is highly significant if you wish to enter either an already developed market or an emerging one. And, while, sometimes, it might be tricky to figure out what are the deciding factors that influence your customers, from my experience, there are two elements to always keep in mind: reviews and urgency.
Reviews
Based on a BrightLocal survey from 2019, the average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling able to trust a business. In the same way, people love to research the products they are buying online.
By reading reviews, comparing similar products and prices, they get an idea about the worth and demand of certain services or items. So, in order to win clients to your side, the first step should be to always include reviews on your platform. Services should feature testimonials, while products should have personalized reviews with rating systems and even pictures.
Some reviews might not be in your favor, but don’t get discouraged! Having negative reviews is just part of life, so try to respond to them in a polite manner and maybe you will be able to win the clients over.
Another way to generate reviews and interactions is to use the social media accounts you have at your disposal. The same survey stated that 67% of consumers have been asked to leave a review for a local business – with 24% of these being offered a discount, gift or cash in return. Following this example you can offer incentives to your customers (like 10% off their next order) in return for reviews on social media.
Source: adrianoianu.com
Urgency
Another way to influence customers into buying your specific brand is creating a sense of urgency. It can be real (product or offer disappears after allotted time) or implied (using call to actions with “Now’ or “Today” as incentives, even if those CTAs are permanent).
Using urgency can boost your conversion rate significantly, but it has to be included carefully into web design or marketing campaigns.
Implement A/B testing to try out some versions of headlines, buttons, pricing or product pages. You can find more information about applying urgency on CXL blog.
Source: cxl.com
Winning over customers based on reviews or a sense of urgency might take some time, especially when factoring in a testing period, but, in the end, these are elements that will definitely prove effective.
What has helped you gain more clients and what tactics have proven to be more effective for your business? Write your experiences below, in the comments section.
Photo by Charles Deluvio
