To stay ahead of your competition, you should always be refining and tweaking your marketing strategy based on what works and what doesn’t. Part of this process is testing new methods, particularly ones that are proven to work. In today’s world of social media and smartphones, effective marketing tactics have changed slightly, but the fundamentals of closing a sale are the same. In this article, you’ll learn five marketing strategies you should be testing to boost your product sales.
1. Tag Your Products on Instagram
Instagram has rolled out a new feature for businesses to jump on that can help you boost sales from your social media followers. In your posts and even in your stories, you can tag products with a product link that will bring users into your store where they can learn more and make a purchase without leaving the Instagram app. With over 1 billion users on Instagram, this platform is more important than ever for your social media marketing strategy.
2. Make a Video
Mounting research suggests that Internet video marketing is the most powerful form of marketing in today’s online world. Videos make you and your brand appear genuine and authentic, which is important for building trust and customer loyalty. By creating helpful, informative videos about the benefits of your products, you can reach people who are searching for information beyond the product’s marketing copy. With one video, you can reach social media users who are on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, as video content is proven to do well on these platforms.
3. Reward Customers for Creating Product Review Videos
Another type of video that performs well is product reviews. Reach out to customers who have purchased your products and offer a discount or free additional product in exchange for a product review video. Because these videos come from customers instead of the business itself, they can be highly effective at converting sales. This is especially helpful for boosting product sales when the products come from large international brands like Amway, which are sometimes given a bad rap from false accusations of being a pyramid scheme. Let’s say you’re an independent business owner working with Amway. Review videos coming directly from customers showing off their products prove that you’re a direct selling business and not an “Amway scam,” helping you build better authority.
4. Turn Your Website into an Automated Sales Machine
Let your sales content be discovered on your website by improving your SEO (search engine optimization). Keeping up with the latest SEO tactics or hiring an SEO expert to bolster your website’s SEO will increase your website’s rank when people are searching for information relevant to your products. Because everyone “googles” something before they buy it, this is critically important to your success. Another way you can turn your website into a selling machine is through automated upselling. When a customer adds an item to their cart and is directed to the checkout page, you can present them with a deal that incentivizes another product sale.
5. Close More Sales Over the Phone
In spite of today’s world of Internet marketing, talking over the phone to close sales is far from dead. People are closely attached to their smartphones, which makes them easy to access over the phone. Be sure to leave your business phone number on your website and social media pages. Encourage people who come looking for information online to give you a call if they have any questions about your products. Once you have a prospective customer on the phone, ask them questions and listen carefully to their pain points. This way, you can tailor your marketing to the individual by explaining to them how your products can help solve their specific problems.
Bolstering Your Strategy
Whatever you’re currently doing to market your products and make sales, you can increase your bottom line by adding new tactics to your marketing strategy. Testing more methods gives you more opportunity to find what works best. Continually analyze your marketing and conversions data so you can double down on what’s working and hone the most effective marketing strategy for your business.