eCommerce Website Promotion And Sale Ideas

No matter how successful your eCommerce website is, you should always be brainstorming for ways to improve it. Developing innovative eCommerce promotion ideas can be tough, but will ultimately pay off in dividends when implemented correctly on your eCommerce store. Offering promotions and special offers to your potential eCommerce customers is an effective method of driving ancillary traffic to your site, acquiring new customers, and growing revenue. Best of all, these promotions can also be used to encourage new visitors to become loyal, repeat customers. Many shopping cart platforms offer these eCommerce features, so take advantage of them!

Why Are Utilizing eCommerce Promotions and Special Offers Important?

The fact is, today's online consumers are savvier than ever. Combine that with the fact that there are more online buying options than ever before, and it's no surprise that it can often take additional persuading to get your visitors to click that checkout button. In that context, consider your eCommerce promotions to be one of the most valuable persuasion tools available to you.

Boosting eCommerce Sales With eCommerce Promotions and Special Offers

Now that we understand the role special offers and promotions play in an eCommerce website, we'd like to share some powerfully simple promotions that we have seen work wonders for our clients. Of course, no two sites are identical, and what works in one industry may not work in another. Before implementing any of these ideas, make sure you are poised to collect any data needed to determine their effectiveness. That way, you will have tangible evidence behind your decisions and you can make permanent changes to your eCommerce store with confidence.

#1 - Free Shipping

It's no secret that everybody loves free shipping. Additional shipping charges during the checkout process contribute to cart abandonment, also known as the Achilles heel of the eCommerce website. Apart from eliminating an expense many of your visitors may be expecting, free shipping can simplify the entire sales process.

Whether you offer free shipping sitewide or limit your promotion to specific categories and products, your customers can browse confidently knowing that the prices listed are what they'll actually pay (plus a little for Uncle Sam, when applicable). Plus, they won't be caught off guard with additional charges when they're ready to checkout. From a psychological perspective, you'll be at an advantage if your visitors are confident that the price they see is an accurate representation of their final cost.

One thing worth mentioning is that your company doesn't necessarily have to eat the shipping costs, you can simply "hide" your shipping charges by embedding them directly into the price of the product.

#2 - Percentage Based Discounts

If brick and mortar storefronts have taught us anything, it's that everyone loves to buy things that are "on-sale", and formatting your product pages to have a "sale price" can definitely increase conversions. Consider showing two prices for any given product, the "retail" price, and your "sale price". Experiment with different terminology such as "Suggested Retail" or "MSRP" to see what works best for your store or niche.

Even though percentage-based discounts have become increasingly ubiquitous on eCommerce websites, they are still quite effective. Somehow, the human brain is still more enticed to purchase a product if an artificially inflated original price has been "slashed" down to a lower amount. Experiment with different percentages depending on your profit margins to find the percentage that is most effective for you. Any reputable eCommerce shopping cart should be able to make these adjustments dynamically, either site-wide or specific to a certain category or product. Remember to keep your profit margins in mind when creating these discounts, as increases in revenue are of the most value when you are making a substantial profit on each sale.

#3 - Buy Something, Get Something Else For Free

Again, everybody loves free stuff. You can set up free product giveaways if a certain product is purchased or if sales of a specific product are dwindling.

If you'd like to increase your average order value, try adding a free product if a certain dollar amount is spent. You'll be giving your customers the impression that they're receiving a better value, while psychologically priming them to have a positive outlook on your company after the transaction. At the same time, it will create an incentive for them to spend more money each time they frequent your site.

#4 - Quantity Discounts

Another great way to improve sales and average order value is to offer discounts based on the quantity purchased of a specific product. These discounts can be structured in any number of ways, including a flat rate, a fixed percentage, or a sliding scale.

This can be especially advantageous to eCommerce websites that are looking to sell both to the average consumer as well as distributors and merchants that need to buy in bulk. You can set up your quantity discount structure such that those looking to purchase in bulk do not have to contact you directly to negotiate a price. The more automation your website has in this regard, the more labor hours your company can allot to innovation and growth.

#5 - Offering Reward Points

Offering your customers a rewards point for each dollar spent is a great way to encourage visitors to become loyal, repeat customers. These reward points can be expressed in "points" or "dollar-value", depending on what you think makes more sense for your target market. Many believe that website visitors are more enticed to spend "50 Example.com Dollars" vs "50 Example.com Reward Points", so keep that psychology in mind when determining how to name your points system.

Getting creative with the naming of your rewards points system also presents an opportunity to strengthen your brand. For example, "Airplane Ticket Reward Points System" doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "Frequent Flyer Miles".

When To Use Special Offers:

While most eCommerce websites are practically always running some sort of special offer, there are certain times when special offers should especially be considered.

1. Weekly / Monthly / Quarterly
2. Pre-launch (of a website, of a new product, or anything else applicable)
3. Holiday / Seasonal Promotions (Black Friday and Christmas are obvious, but also any holidays or seasons that align with your brand... e.g if you sell weight-loss products, create a promotion centered around New Year's resolutions.
4. Abandoned Cart - Target abandoned carters via email with special offers to seal the deal.
5. Email / Newsletter Subscription Offers - Include special offers and promotions exclusive to those on your email list. Advertise this on the site to encourage newsletter and email list signups!
6. Social Media Engagement Incentivisation (e.g. Like us on Facebook for a 10% coupon)
7. First Time Visitors - Create special offers for those making their first visit to your site.
8. Customer Loyalty - reward repeat customers with special offers
9. When it looks like a user intends to exit the page, you can create a special pop-up offer to entice them to stay on the site and make a purchase.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Allison_J_Smith/1136935

P.S.

We would love to let you know about our Content Marketing Starter-Kit & our Conquer Your Content System. This system has been proven to increase reach, engagements, and followers. It also helps bring in new customers EVERY MONTH! 

Gain clarity on your target audience, a downloadable and editable 6-month content calendar as well as a guide on how to set up the PERFECT content strategy for each month! 

Do yourself a favor & LEARN MORE about the Conquer Your Content System  & Content Marketing Starter-Kit 

7 Easy Ways to Increase Online Sales

How to Improve Your Website's Buying Process

From small businesses to huge corporations, increasing profits is the #1 goal.

As a business owner, it's your main purpose and what you focus the bulk of your energy on. However, it can be a challenge-especially when you're so close to your brand-to see what's missing and to make the necessary changes.

Fortunately, there's no shortage of ways you can improve your buying process and see results in the near future.

Whether you run a product- or service-based business, here are 7 ways to increase online sales:

1. Have a user-friendly website that looks good.

This might seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many small business owners neglect their online presence, even if they don't have a brick and mortar store.

They get so focused on selling they forget about the user experience. As a result, visitors get frustrated they can't find what they're looking for, wrestle with glitchy pages and outdated content and go elsewhere.

Remember, many people are also going to be browsing and/or buying from their phones, so optimize accordingly.

2. Tell nothing but the truth.

Don't exaggerate what your product can do or oversell your services. This will only hurt your reputation in the long run and keep you from gaining your customers' and followers' loyalty.

You might make initial profits, but people won't return, will leave negative reviews and will tell family and friends.

Of course, you want to market effectively, but don't claim your coaching services will absolutely lead to a six-figure income or your skincare products will make anyone look 20 years younger.

Be honest and transparent while sharing the benefits of whatever you're selling.

3. Spend time on SEO.

You want your business to be found in Google, but that's not going to happen unless you research your competitors, choose the right keywords (including longtail keywords) and properly optimize your website.

For example, a wedding planner will face stiff competition when creating campaigns around "wedding planning in Vancouver".

He or she could create targeted, longtail content around keywords related to wedding planning, such as fall flower arrangements, unique cupcakes, elegant Bohemian wedding décor, his and her cocktails and so on-anything to drive traffic to the site while standing out from the competition.

4. Create a sense of urgency.

If users land on your site only to see an offer from a year ago is still front and center, it's disappointing and makes people wonder how much energy you put into your business or if you're still in business at all.

If you want to improve your buying process, it's essential to help customers understand the value of what you're providing, whether it's a limited-time offer or a seasonal sale.

5. Understand that content is king.

We've been hearing this for a long time, and it's still so relevant! Search engines reward fresh and useful content. Here are some characteristics of a user-friendly website:

• Detailed, unique product descriptions

• Blog articles about interesting topics related to your product or service

• A FAQ page where you answer all your customers' questions

6. Monitor and respond to reviews.

Nearly 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase, according to the Spiegel Research Center, 2017. I recently talked about the importance of online reviews in How to Deal with Negative Reviews Without Harming Your Business.

From Google My Business to Yelp, you have the opportunity to share your information and get customer feedback, whether it's negative or positive.

7. Be super social.

You NEED a social media presence, and the time has come to focus on content marketing storytelling. Not only do users check out online reviews and how responsive you are, but they also look to see what you're promoting and how often you're active.

You should have strategies the major platforms you know your target market is using including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Don't neglect your audience and they won't neglect you! It's worth it to put the energy into strategizing now for great results.

No matter what your brand is, boosting your online sales, brand awareness and loyalty can be a big challenge.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293

P.S.

We would love to let you know about our Content Marketing Starter-Kit & our Conquer Your Content System. This system has been proven to increase reach, engagements, and followers. It also helps bring in new customers EVERY MONTH! 

Gain clarity on your target audience, a downloadable and editable 6-month content calendar as well as a guide on how to set up the PERFECT content strategy for each month! 

Do yourself a favor & LEARN MORE about the Conquer Your Content System  & Content Marketing Starter-Kit 

7 Proven Ways to Grow eCommerce Sales By 50% or More | Increase eCommerce Sales

How To Find Instagram Influencers To Explode Your eCommerce Sales (BRAND NEW!)

10 Valuable Tips on Content Marketing Which Will Boost Sales on Shopify eCommerce Stores

It appears as though there's some type of frenzy or an uproar of some kind in regards to Content Marketing... It's a peculiar thing, as Content Marketing has always been the number 1, essential practice in SEO best practices. In fact - content is what launched the internet into becoming one of the most important inventions in modern-day technology.

Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing has said: "Content is the reason search began in the first place."

Before the Web/The Internet became ever so cluttered with the display of Ads and PPC - the content was the only thing that drove traffic onto websites.

Oddly, even since the boom in technology and in digital marketing - content still remains to have an immense impact on driving customers and sales to different websites. Rather than declining in its power - content has now become more essential and effective than ever before in digital marketing strategies.

Why Market Content for Shopify eCommerce Stores?

An exceptional piece of content that you create can live for all eternity on the internet. Unique and remarkable content will continue to drive traffic, leads, and sales for years! It will proceed to do its rounds on Social Media Networks and developing referrals and backlinks.

When you write totally amazing and awesome content, you are beginning to create a chain reaction of sorts. The more engaging and informative the content is - the heavier the response will be... and this is just one of the many reasons that Content Marketing for Shopify eCommerce Stores is vital!

You have to think of Content Marketing as some kind of money-making apparatus or as something that works without ever getting tired no matter what time of day it is... When you use Content Marketing properly for Shopify eCommerce Stores, your business will just continue to grow.

Below You Will Find a Variety of Killer Market Content Strategies Which Will Boost Traffic to Your Shopify eCommerce Store

1. Writing Bold Headlines. Always begin with the basics: great headlines. In search result pages - the headlines that you have created have a colossal impact. Utilize headlines to attract the attention of your users and potential customers.

2. Write Using Powerful Language/Words. Power words are words, which will convey emotions and appeal to different senses in a person. Words such as "killer, catastrophic, ballistic, explosive and/or "amazing, mind-blowing, extraordinary, miraculous, astonishing" and the likes seem to cause a reaction in people. We are sure, you've experienced this as well while reading powerful and truly moving content.

However, beware of using too many power words, as it can appear as ingenuine or even spammy. Find a balance and place power words in precise places - where the impact will be felt the most.

• Don't Be Afraid of Being Sexy. It's no secret that sex sells. It simply does... With that said, be sexy in applicable circumstances, but do not go overboard. You do not want to be inappropriate or offensive. Creating some sexy headlines will help you with traffic to your Shopify eCommerce Stores.
• Be Mysterious and Intriguing. Everyone enjoys a little mystery; a little intrigue... so, do not unleash all your info in your headlines. Provoke readers curiosities by taking advantage of the division between users' issues and the solutions that you can provide.
• Implode Expectations. Keep in mind that not many websites have received too much attention by following conventional methods. Think outside the box. Dare to be edgy and a little shocking. Un-filter yourself and your content. Write about things that your users do not expect. However, ALWAYS backup your information with concrete data and facts.

3. Acquire Information. We advise you to subscribe to websites, such as Copy Blogger, QuickSprout, Social Media Examiner and Content Marketing Institute. Take notice of the types of headlines, which are driving the most shares and Tweets. Don't be scared of being experimental. You'll learn from your mistakes.

4. Create Fruitful Content! Fertile, bountiful, informative, creative, abundant - these are all synonyms for extraordinary, Shopify eCommerce content. People really love to connect and engage with content, just as long as it appeals to their senses. If you know what truly appeals to your targeted audience, you will see that your content will begin to spread just like an epidemic. Use this guideline to create, genuine and fruitful Shopify eCommerce content.

5. Insure Content Goes Viral. How do you know if your content is viral-worthy? Well, if your content is worth its information, it will typically spread all on its own. Provide your targeted audience with reasons to connect and/or share your content with others. Is your content utterly awesome? Are you offering special deals?

Developing viral content is of utter importance, as it will compel your users to share your content. For Shopify eCommerce stores, it's sometimes a bit more challenging and for this reason, you need to make sure that your Shopify eCommerce blog page is one of the best in your line of business and/or industry.

6. Social Trends Newsjacking. We live in a world of hashtags and trending topics and hashtags and trends come and go on a daily basis. When you Newsjack, you are basically, taking advantage of trending topics on Social Media to optimize your eCommerce content. For example, if #NationalCatDay is trending on Twitter - think and/or find a way that you can tie up this trending hashtag with your business. You can even just Tweet about it on your business, Twitter account and users will take notice that your business is one that stays in the loop with all types of trending topics.

7. Create Longer Blog Posts/Content. Guys, it is a myth that users are lazy and do not want to read long copy. Sure, if the content is lame or uninformative and invaluable to users - naturally, they will bounce off. However, if you have killer content, with newsworthy and valuable information, your users will most definitely want to read all of your content.

Furthermore, search engines just adore long-form copy!

8. Create and Utilize Visual Content. It's been reported that Tweets that contain images have received approximately 89 percent more favorites and an approximate 150 percent more ReTweets in comparison to Tweets that do not contain any images.

Sure, you can curate the majority of images/pics that you share on Twitter and other Social Media Platforms, but it is strongly recommended that you dare to become a little creative with your smartphone and camera and experiment some for totally authentic images. You never know - you can even start something as huge as the Hot Pepper Challenge!

Arrange and Organize Content Marketing for Shopify eCommerce Stores

A large number of Shopify eCommerce stores/businesses have recently become aware of the importance of eCommerce, content marketing. But just a few have found the infrastructure that is needed to streamline continuous content on the vast array of digital marketing platforms and channels that are available.

No matter what kind of business you have, you should have access to the capabilities that will allow you to create, spread and monitor your content.

9. Develop a Calendar for Shopify eCommerce Content. For starters, you need a concrete, Shopify eCommerce content marketing strategy. Create a document which details: topics, short term goals, targeting data & segmentation. A calendar such as the one described is the best way to get started and ensure a successful eCommerce Content Marketing campaign for your Shopify eCommerce store.

As you become more familiarized with your targeted audience, you'll be more adept to prepare different content marketing strategies that are suitable for your users. Always make sure that any new strategy that you implement is to the highest of quality. Don't create content just for the sake of posting something...

10. Repurpose Content. "Kill two birds with one stone... " When writing content, keep this quote in mind, as it can be invaluable and extremely effective. When creating content - we often forget about some of the really great pieces of copy that have been published.

Make the time to go back to previous content that you have written and/or created and that you feel confident about and share it various times on the same platform, so that you may be able to reach people on different time zones or that have different online habits. Once you do this, tweak/repurpose your content, so that you are able to distribute these amazing pieces of content on different platforms.

For example, if you created an infographic some weeks ago and you are now developing a video for this week - check and see if you can incorporate your infographic from weeks ago into your new video. Remember, content isn't all about words!

Start applying these amazing and totally effective tips, which will boost sales to your Shopify eCommerce Store!

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rosario_Berry/1668823

P.S.

We would love to let you know about our Content Marketing Starter-Kit & our Conquer Your Content System. This system has been proven to increase reach, engagements, and followers. It also helps bring in new customers EVERY MONTH! 

Gain clarity on your target audience, a downloadable and editable 6-month content calendar as well as a guide on how to set up the PERFECT content strategy for each month! 

Do yourself a favor & LEARN MORE about the Conquer Your Content System  & Content Marketing Starter-Kit 

7 Landing Page Hacks That'll Double Your Sales | AWasia 2017

5 Tips To Profit From Pinterest Ads

Are you using Pinterest to promote your brand? If you are, you're tapping into over 250 million monthly active users. But are you certain that this image-based social media powerhouse it's helping to drive more traffic and profit?

Are you looking for ways to increase traffic to your site and help you generate more revenue? These five tips will help you generate more profit from this popular site.

1: Set SMART Goals

Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-limited goals. Start by figuring out what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it.

For instance, do you want to increase your followers to 200 by the end of the quarter? Or do you want your Pinterest ad to generate at least 100 downloads by the end of the month? Being specific gives you a goal to achieve, and it helps you to focus on using the right Pinterest marketing tools. Also, it makes it easier to track your success.

2: Consistency

Remember, if you pin too little, people will lose interest in you. And, if you pin too much, you risk overwhelming your audience and they're likely to unfollow you. Pin at least 10-12 pins per day to appear frequently in your follower's search results and feeds.

Also, consider the time of day you're pinning. The peak time is between 8 and 11pm on weekends. These are great times to put out your pins and tweak later depending on the insights on Pinterest marketing tools.

3: Promotion

Don't stop your promotion at Pinterest. Promote your pins on other social media platforms to generate traffic and increase followers.

4: Re-Pinning

Re-pin others' pins to gain an audience and generate more revenue. Pinterest is a social platform, so one of the best ways to get people to re-pin your pins is by being active. Pin others' pins, especially those with a target audience similar to yours. They'll notice you and even follow your boards.

5: Create Contests and Sell Your Own Products

Do you want to sell your products on Pinterest? Then, create contests. These are popular and they'll help you earn money.

Most businesses use contests to get people to engage with their brand. So if you do them properly, you'll trigger people to think about and talk about your brand. But be aware that contests can also make people add pins they aren't interested in. Sometimes pins from contests can feel irrelevant and spammy if they are done wrong.

Pinterest has become a major player in the social media universe. With over 250 million active monthly users, Google is paying more attention to Pinterest, which means you can boost your search engine rankings and enjoy free, targeted traffic by hopping on board this social media super-brand. Get your free Pinterest marketing checklist at https://jonallo.com/pinterest

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jon_Allo/1079948

Social Media Marketing - 25 Facebook Post Ideas to Attract More Customers & Sales For Your Business

How to Write a Call to Action to Boost Your Website Sales

Why do you need a call to action and how do you write one that gets more of your customers to click, call or buy? Here's how to get customers to act now.

Is your website losing sales and leads because you don't have a call to action on your pages? Web pages that look attractive and are informative are important to making sales, but when you are missing an effective call to action (CTA), your customers and site visitors are far less likely to become leads or customers. 

The reason? If you don't tell people what action you want them to take, inertia takes over.  It's simply easier for most people to do nothing than to figure out what decision to make. Your call to action points them to the decision you want them to make and makes it easy for them to make that decision.

The CTA isn't always an invitation to buy now. In many cases, it's an invitation to move to the next step in the sales funnel. Some kind of invitation to learn more, watch a video or speak with a sales representative.

With that in mind, the first thing you need to do is design your sales funnel. How will you move your customer from education (the sales pitch) to actually giving you money? As you design your sales funnel, leave room for these calls to action along the way.

How to Write a Great Call to Action

1. Use Power Words.

Great calls to action are emotional. They don’t waste valuable space with words like, “just.” They use words like “dream” or “million.” How about “Be the first” or “Find Your Million Dollar Idea Today.” All of these provoke some kind of emotion. Looking for some awesome power words? 

2. Put Your CTA in the Right Place.

Just like in real estate, the 3 most important words in digital marketing are location, location, location. Tons of research exist to tell you how people read a web page—and some of that research is actually useful. You might think that your call to action should be at the bottom of your page after all of your finely crafted sales copy but some people don’t want to read all the fluff. Some people will simply want to check out the offer without reading. Others may be ready to buy after one paragraph while others may completely miss the call to action if it’s only at the bottom of the page. That’s why a few CTAs in various locations on the page may work best. Try them in different places and start with these guidelines:

• Green and orange buttons tend to convert the best.
• Use first-person language. “Get My Free Report” instead of “Get Your Free Report.”
• One of your calls to action should be above the fold so visitors don’t have to scroll to find it.
• One action is enough. Tell your customers what you want them to do. Don’t use the CTA to present choices. You could give them a few choices at checkout, instead.

3. Keep It Short.

Having the gift of gab may make you a top-notch salesperson in face to face conversations but online, it’s all about getting to the point. The fewer words in your call to action, the better, in most cases. Consider these two examples:

1 - Let ABC company tell you how much it will cost to remodel your kitchen

2 - Call today for a free estimate!

Which of these two calls to action are most likely to get a response? The first call to action isn’t actually a call to action, and it is long and wordy. Plus it focuses on letting the ABC company do something and that it's something that will cost money. The second variation is short, to the point, tells the consumer to place a call, and focuses on the free estimate, not the cost of the work.

4. Test, Test and Test Some More.

There’s a lot of science behind the call to action but science is only a starting point. All the statistics and best practices may not work with your audience so test everything. Try a few different text ideas, button colors, button shapes, locations, web page designs. Test each of these individually. It’s going to take a while to test everything but once you find the winning combination you’re going to see some fantastic results. Even the best marketers in the business test various combinations. If they can’t get it right the first time, either can you. Now get to work and write a CTA that will get people flocking to your business!

Article Source: https://www.businessknowhow.com/internet/how-to-write-call-to-action.htm 

Selling on Social Media Without Driving People Away

5 Social Media Selling Tips & Warnings

Social media is one of the best marketing tools out there: you can grow and reach a large audience with content and ads, and people who like and/or follow you are your fans, so they're already your target group.

However, people can be resistant to selling on these platforms. They see sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as places to share content and interact with friends, families-and nowadays, brands.

You really have to approach this the right way or you could alienate your audience, causing them to unfollow or unlike you because they expect a two-way conversation and engaging content, not to be marketed to.

It's also important to clarify that social selling doesn't mean advertising your product or service online for people to buy.

Social selling means you're using social media to connect with sales prospects and nurture relationships to hopefully convert them into customers.

For example, I recently did a Tea Time Tip about things that you need to consider before you start building your website. People could comment and ask questions in real-time, and Facebook Live had a lot of information about hiring a professional web development company.

So, I wasn't simply talking at people to hire us for their website-building needs; I was sharing pertinent information and nurturing those leads who might be looking for a company to help them out.

Now that we've defined social selling, let's discuss what you can do to increase your odds of success:

1. Think relationships, not dollar signs.

Make sure you're posting relevant, non-sales content. You want to become an expert resource in your industry, so focus on adding value to your users' feeds.

According to a study performed by LinkedIn, buyers who are active on social media welcome input from industry experts. In addition, 76% of buyers are ready to have a conversation with potential providers.

Get to know your potential customers by asking them engaging questions, answering their questions in a timely manner and responding to comments. The more trust and loyalty you build, the better your odds of converting a follower into a paying customer.

Read: The Power of Social Media Storytelling

Once upon a time your strategy was probably largely focused on sharing links to third-party content with your audience. Well, those days are over, and if you want to stand out in the crowded and noisy online environment, you need to focus on content marketing storytelling.

2. Take the time to build out your accounts.

Make sure that your bio and profile are filled out on all the platforms you want to use for social selling. You should include your website URL, About Us, phone number and any other relevant contact info.

It can also help to pin relevant posts, make sure your branding stands out and have high-quality images to attract followers' attention. Again, this builds trust and loyalty, making people feel more comfortable and secure doing business with you.

See how one of our clients, A Family Law Firm, has taken the time to not only fill out their contact info, but also the "Our Story" section on Facebook.

3. Choose your messaging wisely.

What works on one platform may not work on another. Where do your potential clients hang out? Where do they talk business, or go for restaurant recommendations? Generally:

* LinkedIn is more business-focused, so people are more comfortable with marketing messaging there.

* Twitter has a great search function, so you can more easily connect with prospects, and find relevant topics.

* Facebook has many communities that you can join and network in (remember, don't be pushy!)

* Instagram and Pinterest is for visuals, not long content pieces.

By tailoring your message for each platform, you'll be more likely to attract the right kind of customer.

4. Let user-generated content sell for you.

You don't have to do all the work of social selling alone! There are so many ways to use user-generated content (UGC) to your advantage, including:

* Contests and giveaways that encourage followers to share your content, hashtags and/or message.

* Ratings or reviews for your product or service

* Testimonials

For example, J.Crew posts user ratings and reviews on their website, so when they post a dress or shirt on their social media account and someone clicks on through, they see other people's votes of confidence.

Not only does user-generated content help you, but it helps your customers. Almost 80 percent of people say that UGC drives their purchasing decisions. It's a win-win situation!

5. Try, test and try again.

Every business owner should be tracking and measuring their efforts, whether it's a digital Newsletter push or a Google AdWords campaign. Look at your data and stats to determine what's working and what isn't.

Maybe people are being referred to a page on your website from your Facebook post, but they're only spending a few seconds on it.

You need to look at why that is: is your messaging unclear? Boring? Is there a broken link? By tracking your visitors' paths, you can see where you need to take a closer look.

Google Analytics is a free tool you can use to measure your website statistics, and there are also paid tools out there that can help you break down and understand your data.

The more you test and tighten your social media selling attempts, the better your ROI will be (and the happier your followers will be).

While social selling is different than traditional methods, it's still about building relationships and credibility. Focus on the person behind the platform, not on converting them into a sale or guiding them down a marketing funnel. Take the time to build connections and you'll create a community of prospects who will welcome hearing from you.

Susan Friesen, the founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant, and Social Media Advisor. She works with entrepreneurs who struggle with having a lack of knowledge, skill, and support needed to create their online business presence.

As a result of working with Susan and her team, clients feel confident and relieved knowing their online marketing is in trustworthy and caring hands so they can focus on building their business with peace of mind at having a perfect support system in place to guide them every step of the way.

Visit http://www.ultimatewebsiteguide.ca and download your FREE "Ultimate Guide to Improving Your Website's Profitability - 10 Critical Questions You Must Ask to Get Maximum Results"

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293

What is a Sales Funnel? And How To Create One that Actually Makes Money

Different Ways Of Generating Traffic, Leads And Sales For Your Affiliate Or Own Offers

When it comes to running an offline or online business, the most critical things owners need - besides the necessary license and equipment - are traffic, leads, and sales. Yet in spite of knowing this, the underlying question in most of their minds - is how to get more while spending less or better still, for free?

Having said that, this is what my article going to address today.

Now regardless of what they are called, they still boil down to one common factor which is people. Because without them taking action the way you want to be it seeing your offer, listening to and reading what you presented and taking up your free and paid offer, your business is not going to last. That is the brutal truth in traditional and internet marketing as well.

So the question is how do I get traffic?

To be honest, there is no right and wrong answer. But there are free and paid methods you can use.

However, before even doing so, it is important to identify if there is a market for your offer and connecting with people within that. This is absolutely necessary in order to build an audience as in groups of people who know, like and trust you. Especially when you focused on free methods which I touched upon later.

It is the same way with how you got to know your friends, boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse and how politicians do to get more people to vote for them and formed the government. You might also see that in networking events and seminars.

Below are both free and paid strategies I know and learn from more experienced marketers.

1. Free Article Marketing

This is by far the oldest but still workable method. What you do is write and submit an article like what you see now into relevant sites like Ezine Articles.

2. Blogging

This is more of a long-term SEO and wealth-building strategy.

You can write whatever you want in your blog - preferably WordPress into your own domain and hosting and then connect with other bloggers in your niche either through blog commenting or guest posting.

3. Classified Advertising

You might not believe this but this is how I got started making my first dollar in 2008.

This is a great alternative and test to paid ads.

What you need to do is to come up with an eye-catching headline and 2-3 lines ad with links before posting to relevant sites like Craiglist and Gumtree.

4. Directory Submissions

In the past, this used to work very well.

But in the wake of Google's relentless updates, many sites have come and gone so apart from Dmoz, they are no longer variable today.

5. Email Marketing

This works provided you have a quality email list of subscribers who are eager to read from, trust and buy from you.

But for this to work effectively, you need a high converting landing page and reliable autoresponder to send unlimited emails.

6. Forum Posting

Forums are online discussion sites in which people congregated and discussed common issues and interests.

To get started, there are important rules you have to abide by in order not to get banned.

Such as do not spam but provide helpful information in answering what they need and want to know with your blog and landing page links in your signature - which is the footer text below every post you make

7. Google SEO

If you provided good quality content in your blog in the form of articles and even videos with social media channel links - I will be talking about later, the major search engine will reward you with higher rankings on the first page for maximum exposure and even leads and sales from your searchers.

This also helps if you have comments and questions below your posts.

8. PDF Submissions

You can also compile a set of 5-10 articles into MS Word or Open Office into a report or e-book with an attractive cover before publishing in sites like Calameo, Scribd and Slideshare.

9. Press Releases

They are basically online versions of newspaper reports in which you can submit to related sites.

There are both free and paid services in which you can submit.

10. Social Media And Networks

You can also participate in social networks like Facebook where you can post on your timeline, create fan pages, live events, videos and joined and share in groups like what you do in forums.

Others include LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and Tumblr.

11. Video Marketing

This is where you create your videos from your own PC or iPhone camera, powerpoint slides or both with some music background and introduction or highlighted points text.

If you just want to show your face, you can use a camera.

But if you want to share your PC screen, I will recommend Jing and Camtasia Studio - the latter gives you a free 30-day trial before you pay a one-time fee of $197.

12.. Web 2.0 Properties.

You can also post your content in other blogging platforms like Blogger, Hubpages, Webs, Weebly and Wix.

In the past, these used to work like a charm in the form of the Google Wonder Wheel.

But now you can only post what you had not in your articles and blog posts.

This works best when you are doing e-commerce and your info products.

13. Webinars

They are online versions of seminars in which you can invite your subscribers and customers to attend before presenting your offer.

For this, I recommend Go-To-Webinar and Zoom.

B. Paid

For paid strategies, I will recommend 3 platforms in Bing, Facebook, And Google Ads. At the time of writing this, mobile apps and YouTube Ads also came about.

With that said, these are both free and paid methods I know of getting traffic, leads, and sales for your sites.

Amuro Wesley is an internetpreneur who promotes his own and other people's products online. For his step-by-step course on how you can do the same, check out here.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Amuro_Wesley/2395518

How To Make Banner Ads Attractive And Realize Online Marketing Goals?

We are now in the digital world where technology shapes the way we live. Brands are not immune to changes brought forward by constant advancements in the technology. Take for instance, the norms of marketing have completely changed with digital taking precedence over traditional. From mobile to social to e-mail to content, the routes of marketing have evolved and entered an altogether different territory. With more people going online and socializing than they ever did, it's now the turn of brands to head where all the prospects lie. They have to advertise and tap into the ever-exploding potential of the internet world.

In a way, brands have to leverage different techniques and methods of advertising to catch the attention of their target audience, including existing customers and prospective ones. To catch attention, effective marketing campaigns and attractive ads will be needed as they stir imagination and demand some sort of attention. Banner ads have to aesthetically impeccable as only they can they make the heads roll. In a way, your banner ads have to stand out from the sea of campaigns unfurled by other marketers. For that to happen, you need to have a team of creative and experienced graphic designers with, of course, proven credentials.

What if your small business can't afford any investment in hiring designers? What should be the strategy when the budget is relatively too small to hire creative people? In such scenario, the only option is to design banners ads by own or explore the market to find any advanced tool for the same purpose. It'd be great if you could find a tool as in that case, a lot of time and money would be saved that otherwise get spent on manual efforts. Finding such a tool, and an advanced one at that, means getting the freedom of designing your own banner ads.

What's more, having a tool will also give the benefit of creating multiple designs at one go and then choosing the one that suits the marketing requirements in the best possible way. With the tool doing all what is needed, a business then won't need to hire a designer to produce several mock-ups of the banner design. Given so many benefits attached with the tool, it'd really be a great decision to get that one and let the business benefit, at least on the banner designing front. Options are many in the market and you should choose a tool that delivers speed and responsiveness.

In addition, a business should always select a tool that provides multi-browser support feature. The tool won't serve the purpose beyond a point if it is not compatible with device such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops. It should enable adding of text, arches effects; should help upload images, rotate texts & images; facilitate adding of shape & clip-art and changing of background. What's more, the chosen banner designing software or tool should come packed with a huge selection of themes and templates to bring more ideas and more creativity into play.

Yusuf Javed is the proud founder and director of Product Designer Tool - an innovative company that provides personalized and customized banner designing software to clients. A tri-national (citizen of the US, UK & India) and tri-lingual management executive with decade-long experience in Digital Marketing, he has vast experience in building teams, strategic planning and direct sales.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Yusuf_Javed/2123248

Why Targeting Is Pretty Much Everything For Your Sales Funnel

If you're planning to make money through a sales funnel, then by far and away the most significant thing to start thinking about is your targeting. In other words, how are you guaranteeing that it's the right person who is getting your autoresponder messages? In which way are you ensuring that the subscribers who find their way to start of your sales funnel are the right kinds of prospects?

This is what's called 'targeting' and it is genuinely the difference in earning substantial cash and making no money whatsoever.

The most effective way to demonstrate why targeting works really well is to think about sales. In sales, you have the individuals who start out their professions cold calling and selling things like training courses. These are individuals who will be picking up the telephone and trying to promote something expensive to a random stranger.

Now, some individuals will be very good at that and those people will probably be the ones who succeed. As they improve, they will be offered better and better jobs within their company and sooner or later this will lead to them generating big money.

What's the best position?

Selling to well-qualified prospects who have a lot of cash. Consider this: if you're able to promote something to strangers who probably haven't got much money, it will be easy to market to affluent people who have already told you they want to buy!

This is the concept that product sales is based on and it's how you're going to make sure your business is prosperous when you're making use of a sales funnel.

Because the equivalent with a sales funnel is simple and easy - this would mean locating targeted prospects and sending them to your site. It means finding people who are showing an interest in your specific niche, who are the right age and sex and who have the right income.

How?

With the help of PPC of course! PPC stands for Pay Per Click and this is a type of marketing where you only pay each time a person clicks on your ad. PPC ads can be placed either on Google searches (through Google AdWords) or they can be put on Facebook, where they will target people according to not only their age, sex and location but also on their hobbies, interests and job title!

If you can carry this out, then you can find the exact kind of individual who is likely to purchase from you and then make sure that these are the individuals who start their journey through your sales funnel. That way, you are destined to succeed!

Get niche specific pre-written autoresponder messages and lead capture pages for email marketing. [http://prewrittenemailmarketing.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Frank_L_Jones/1193603

Facebook Marketing Strategy: Crush 2019 with Facebook Sales Funnels

A Complete, Step-By-Step Video Training on Facebook Lead Ads | 2017 Edition

Why You Need to Capture Leads, Not Sales

If your goal is to generate passive income, then you might well be hoping to accomplish that by selling a product. This could be a product you've made, or it might be a product that you are promoting as an affiliate marketer. Either way, you'll likely have set up a sales page, creating an ad campaign to send visitors there and then hopefully begun to rake in the profits!

The problem is that it can be tough trying to convince people who visit your page to buy. Your success in this endeavor comes down almost entirely to your conversions and the percentage of visitors that end up buying from you.

And to this end, many marketers will jump straight in with the hard sell. That means that they'll heavily push all the positives of their product and try to get the visitor to click buy as soon as they get there.

This doesn't tend to work. Although you probably want to make your sales process as simple and automated as possible, it's absolutely essential that you don't try to go straight in for the kill. Far more effective is to try to capture leads first instead. Here's why.

Why Cold Sales Don't Work

Just because you're making money passively, that does not mean that you should be impatient about how you are collecting your sales.

If you try to convert your visitors as soon as they land on your page, then this is the equivalent of walking up to someone you like in a bar and asking them for their number, without saying hello or even introducing themselves first. Or it's a little like walking up to someone in the street and offering to sell them a watch for $500. Would you be receptive to that sales technique?

Of course not! And the reason is that you know nothing about the person selling, you know nothing about the product and you have no reason to trust that what they're offering is as good as they say it is.

If someone lands on your page and you try to sell to them right away, then they'll think your site is essentially spam and they'll be frustrated at the lack of value. Chances are they'll leave.

How to Convert

So instead, talk to them about how they can get free information by signing up to your mailing list, or provide them with an article and then offer to share more through your Facebook.

Now you have the opportunity to build that relationship and to build trust and eventually, you'll find that this puts you in a position where they are more likely to want to buy from you!

You might be wondering how this model is still passive. In fact, though, it still can be: there's no reason you can't use automated emails for example through an auto-responder. Or you can write a ton of blog posts and then schedule them to post over time.

You can still make your model passive. Just don't go straight in for the kill!

Download FREE Passive Income Guide
http://TalkingFalcon.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/A._Hall/177291