Starting a business has never been easier, thanks to the internet. If you ever want to learn the ropes, you can do so without taking much risk. There are platforms online that will let you create an account so you can start dabbling as a merchant. You will have to put in work to upload the information about the products that you are peddling. You have to be creative with that by adding eye-catching pictures and detailed descriptions. Failure to do both and you will have many people just skip over your pages.
With things being this easy and convenient comes increased competition. You are not the only one trying to run a business. There are many others out there who have the same drive and motivation as you. So you have to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Here are some clever ways for you to attract customers.
Traditional Ways
Even in this age where the internet drives a lot of things, there is still a place where traditional marketing works. For example, real estate agents still go out and make phone calls from their database of leads. Whenever they get a positive response, that means they have a potential property buyer that they can place in their customer onboarding system. From here they can just track the progress of the relationship. Follow-up conversations will be done and hopefully, this all leads to a closing a deal.
Another trusted strategy is to simply give people a taste of what you offer. You see this in supermarkets, where food brands set up stands or kiosks to give shoppers free samples of their products. There are a lot of online services out there like video streaming platforms and VPN providers who let people try them out for a month. This is a great way to turn those who are on the fence into full customers.
Collaborate
Although competition can be tight in the online space, this does not mean that you cannot work with other entrepreneurs to help drum up interest in your businesses. Collaborating with other brands that have different offerings is a creative and effective way to grab a new set of audience. For example, if you are into selling healthier-alternative snacks, you can team up with someone who sells workout equipment. There are different crowds in the fitness space, but this makes sense because generally diet and exercise go well with each other. If you initially have a clientele that mostly targets to lose weight or just change their eating habits, this partnership will see you gaining the gym buffs and athletic crowd.
Create Content
It is not enough that you have a storefront that houses the breadth of your product catalog. On the internet, people like to spend time digesting content and getting as much information as possible if they are targeting a certain product. They like to read the details and the feedback to help them in their buying decision. If you want your offerings to linger for a longer period in their minds, you want to create supplemental content, whether that is in the form of an article or a video. Giving them stuff that is compelling and interesting might even give them an idea to look at your other products and see if they also have something to explore there.
Be Social
Part of customer service is showing people that you are approachable. The internet may offer the convenience of having them shop for products in the comfort of their own home. But there are also those who think that every time they lock in a purchase, they feel that they are gambling on something. This is understandable because unlike shopping in a physical store where you get up close and personal with the merchandise, shopping on the internet has you relying on text, pictures, and other buyers’ feedback to influence your decision. You also do not want to feel helpless when the item you received is not up to standards or just plain defective.
Having an active presence in social media sends people the message that you and your business like to interact with their customers. And since it is a public forum, people expect consistency. Establish a healthy and approachable style and back it up by doing the same when you receive complaints or negative feedback. That will help you in the long run, because if people are satisfied with your level of customer service, they will be glad to spread the word around.
Starting an online business will have you competing with possibly millions of others aspiring to become successful in this space. How can you separate yourself from the crowd? You can do that by being savvy with marketing and offering amazing customer service.