Introduction
The unprecedented global pandemic COVID-19 has paved ways for everyone to have a piece of the online market. The online market is thriving more than ever, and many business owners are reaping bountiful profits.
So you have a brilliant business idea that you believe will become a thriving e-commerce enterprise. Many people start a business for numerous reasons such as –
- They want to be their own boss and call the shots.
- They want to pursue their passion and do what makes them happy.
- They want to be financially independent.
- They want to improve people’s lives with their products and services.
- They want to create new job opportunities to help the economy.
- They want to make more money.
- They want to leave a lasting legacy.
- They want to inspire people to follow their dreams.
What’s your business idea, and how do you want to bring it to reality?
As many businesses in the bid to stay afloat, keep customers and employees safe pivot to only online sales, you may think there’s no room for you to succeed as a startup with competitions sprouting from every corner of the internet.
We are aware that the entrepreneurial success rate is low, and almost 90% of every entrepreneurial attempt fails at the beginning.
Building a successful eCommerce business requires patience, consistency, and perseverance, so you do not get discouraged mid-way.
No cheat sheet guarantees you automatic success, and honestly, creating a business that stands the test of time is a trying process.
But with the right steps, your business stands a chance to become a success story and a competitive e-commerce business that will attract customers and increase your ROI.
7 Strategic Steps To Build A Successful eCommerce Business
Harness An Untapped Niche And Establish Your Target Audience
Before you even start to think about your business name, logo design, and more, find a core niche that allows you to position yourself uniquely in front of your target audience. Most eCommerce startups fail to identify their target audience, and this mistake stagnates their growth. When you find an untapped market, do a competitor analysis, keyword research, and target audience survey. Then craft a compelling brand story, superb products or services, and your target audience will pay attention to you.
Don’t create a product before you go in search of your target market. Save money, time, and energy by understanding your target audience, which helps you decide how to spend your marketing budget. In your chosen niche, stand out from your competition by solving a unique problem in the market with the personalized product or service you offer. With a passionate target audience who need what you offer, you have a chance to become a successful eCommerce business.
Have A Fantastic Website Design
As an eCommerce entrepreneur, a website is very significant to your online visibility. Because the website is an alternative to the physical stores, this means it’s a reflection of your brand, and this sets the tone for the success or demise of your business. With your competition vying for your target audience’s attention per second, you need to strive to ace your website design at all costs. So, you need an eye-catchy design, makes a great first impression and easily captures their attention.
A great eCommerce website establishes and strengthens your brand by offering you the opportunity to gain even more customers through search engines.
When creating it, consider all the factors like the content, ease of navigation, page loading speed, and anything that can make a more enjoyable user experience.
Stick to one or two font colors; keep it intuitive, clutter-free, and simple without flashy ads. Also, make it mobile-friendly, so your website is easily accessible.
Consider hiring a professional website design company to get the job done with ease.
Outsource Your Digital Marketing Campaign
Your digital marketing campaign plays a vital role in the growth of your eCommerce business. As you grow and expand, managing your primary ways of attracting online business in-house can be too time-consuming. You require the services of experienced and skilled individuals with the necessary expertise and knowledge to get the job done exceptionally.
By outsourcing your digital marketing, you can avoid mistakes and pitfalls that other entrepreneurs experience. Take your time to choose one that matches your values and goals with the right digital marketing services.
Create Catchy And SEO Optimized Content
As a startup, It’s a lot of hard work to get your marketing strategy right.
Your content plays a crucial role in converting your target audience to customers. Genuine, original SEO-optimized content helps boost your ranking on search engines like Google and other search engines and easily reach your target audience without spending a fortune. Optimized content gives you free organic traffic, and it also creates memorable experiences that influence purchase action and convert into sales.
When your content converts customers, make it more successful by building an email list and sending timely and informative emails. When sent to your nurtured email list, newsletters, promotional offers, or other helpful information, create potential future purchases and boost sales. Learn more about the Dos & Dont’s for building an email list and 8 Email Marketing Tips to Win Opt-Ins.
Your content response also helps you identify your buyer personas and the best way to meet their need on their buyer journeys.
In your content marketing campaign, develop compelling headlines that arouse attention, establish your authority as an expert who can provide the solution, and always create a sense of urgency with the appropriate use of calls-to-action.
It’s imperative in your content creation to maintain a consistent brand image. Your brand themes, logo, fonts, and colors must remain constant in all of your marketing activities. These details must be cohesive and easily identifiable because they represent your brand’s identity, personality, and voice.
Let Influencers Market For You
Embrace influencer marketing! It’s the quickest way to get publicity for your eCommerce business and the products and services you offer. They could be social media personalities or well-known industry figures.
Align yourself with any of the digital influencers in the sector or industry you are trying to market to promote your products and add credence to them.
Be strategic with your influencer marketing because it helps you build trust, brand image, and customer engagement to grow your business.
Focus On Your Repeat Customers
After they start and have established an online presence, most eCommerce businesses tend to forget their repeat customers in a bid to get potential ones.
It’s only natural for you to want many people to become your customers early on.
You should apply the same effort you put into acquiring new customers to delight and retain the customers you initially got.
They will spend more than new customers and will eventually become brand ambassadors and loyalists.
These repeat customers are the key to your growth.
Provide Exceptional Customer Service And Support
One key thing to remember when building your eCommerce business is to always provide your customers with exceptional service and support every time.
Don’t fall into the trap of focusing more on making sales to maximize revenue that you ignore your customers, believing that sales are more important to your growth.
Sales are essential, but your customers are much more valuable to your business, and they deserve excellent customer service. Provide as much support when they need it because when you treat them poorly, they will not hesitate to move on to your competitors. Some may even leave bad reviews and tell others about their bad experience with you.
Providing excellent service increases brand loyalty and encourages them to promote and market your brand. Use all options available from email and phone to live chat to deliver instant solutions to their problems. Make your customers feel special and earn their trust.
Conclusion
You can create and build a successful eCommerce business regardless of your idea. As long as it moves from the idea phase into planning, you can break them down into achievable goals. Using these steps, you’re well on your way.
Several online opportunities are waiting for you to sell your products or services to become an established business.
Ready To Start Your Online Business?
At Top Content Marketing Agency, we have years of experience helping individuals and business owners run successful eCommerce websites and digital marketing campaigns.
Reach out to us for more details.
Good luck with your eCommerce business!