Sign in Why Your Sales Figures Are Low & How To Improve Them

/in /by

One thing that a lot of newer businesses struggle with is sales. Have you noticed that your figures are down on your monthly sales report? Are you concerned about the reason why that is? The important thing is not to panic. Your sales might be low, but that doesn’t mean that your business is doomed to fail. Sure, it may fail if things don’t pick up, but if you can turn things around, that doesn’t have to be the case.

In order for your sales to pick up, you need to understand why they are low in the first place and how you can improve them. Bearing that in mind, below is a guide to some of the most common reasons why businesses have low sales and ways to change that. For everything that you need to know, read on.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Your product isn’t needed

If there is one reason why products do not sell, it is because they aren’t needed. If you are offering a product that has no value to it or is too similar to another product, the chances are that it won’t sell. Most people won’t buy products that they don’t need, so what you offer needs to be something that is needed. If this isn’t the case, as a brand, you need to convince people that they need your product. Take bottled water, for instance; it isn’t a necessity because water comes out of the tap, and yet, billions of bottles of the stuff are sold each year. Why is that? Because customers have been convinced that it tastes nicer and is better for them than tap water. Want your product to sell? Yes – then you need to convince people that they need it.

There’s no urgency

Have you seen those TV infomercials where the company offers 40% off for a period of 30 days. They always state things like ‘get yours now before it’s gone’ and ‘buy yours now at our reduced rate’. These kinds of messages and deals create a sense of urgency, which encourages consumers to make a purchase there and then, instead of putting it off. This is a fantastic marketing ploy and one that all businesses should use.

Your marketing isn’t on point

If people don’t know about your product, then they can’t buy it, can they? Sometimes the reason that a product isn’t successfully selling is because it is not being marketing in the right way. The key to success is using multiple marketing streams, including both inbound and outbound marketing. What you want to ensure is that your marketing is professionally planned and managed, so say you want to incorporate PPC, it’s worth using a service like Falcon Digital Marketing PPC, instead of attempting to deal with this yourself. As by going professional, you can ensure that the methods in place are effective, and will help to boost sales.

There is a lack of trust

For a product to be successful, consumers need to trust the brand. If there is a lack of trust, this can mean that a product doesn’t sell as well as it should do. To build trust, it’s a case of building a rapport with consumers. The best ways to do this is via offering the best customer care and using tools like social media to help boost the rapport between your brand and your consumers. Think networking chats, competitions, and giveaways – anything that helps to build a relationship is useful.

There you have it, a guide to why your sales figures are low and ways that you can improve them.

4 Reasons Your Content Marketing Plan Will Fail You

/in /by

Content marketing has never been so important. The content you create could make or break your business because there is so much emphasis on search engine rankings these days. One of the most important things a small business can do is take the time to plan content well and make sure it speaks to and engages with their target audiences. But, there are so many times when content marketing plans fail because of simple mistakes. Here’s why your content marketing could be failing you.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
Photo courtesy of Pexels

Content Marketing is a Temporary Fix

If you aren’t getting the sales and traffic you desire and you’re using content marketing as a quick fix, you may as well give up now. Content marketing is something that need to be used consistently and businesses have to make a long-term commitment. If you believe your business can survive by getting the custom you need from a few social media posts and blogs and then you’ll be able to stop, think again. You may be finding it difficult to invest the time a content plan needs. In that case, it’s wise to invest in the services of an internet marketing firm. If you want your business to flourish, you better have a 12-month content plan in place and refresh it every annum.

You Don’t Need to Know Your Audience

So, you think you can set-up a Facebook business page and advertise to anyone and everyone? Firstly, you’re unlikely to convert your audience into sales and secondly, your content won’t be specific enough to reach your target audience. Every business has a target audience and no business will survive without identifying it. When you know who your target audience is, you can design your content based on the information you have, and you’re more likely to attract the appropriate people.

Content Means Sales

Don’t make the mistake of looking for immediate results. Yes, content works, but it’s usually over a period of time. Think about the way you react to content marketing as a customer. One social media post is enough to get you interested, but it doesn’t mean you’ll automatically read the blog, visit the website or buy products. For many customers, the first engagement with a post is just the beginning. It may take several more posts before you convert that follower into a buyer. So, be patient and do your research so you can create a daily content plan.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
Photo courtesy of Pexels

SEO isn’t a Big Deal

It would be nice to think that the quality of a business will outshine everything else, but ignoring SEO will just lead to unnecessary failure. If your potential customers can’t find you when they search for your niche, the quality of your work will have no voice at all. At the very least you need to do keyword research so your site will rank in searches, but it’s also important that you create content that can gain links and increase your visibility.

Sometimes it’s best to create a content marketing plan by asking yourself, ‘What could make this fail?’ and working from there.

Brand Marketing Campaigns That Expose You To New Markets

/in /by

All businesses want to take territory, either by being first or taking customers away from their competition. The world of business is kind of like a contact sport because you’re aggressively trying to outsell your competition and prove to the world why you’re just plain better than they are. The contact, however, is done with the consumers when you’re trying to convince them that your products and services would make their life more enjoyable and or easy. The battle that is fought in the trenches is the marketing campaign. Exposing your brand to new markets should be treated like a well-orchestrated battle plan. Companies spend a significant amount of time and money on advertising both online and in the real world. Although the world has advanced to a stage that many think only the online presence of a business is important, meeting people face to face, shaking their hand, introducing yourself will never be replaced. Conducting a campaign of brand exposure requires research and assembling of your team.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
Photo courtesy of Pexels

Calling the troops

First and foremost you need a call to action. Whether you’re trying to expose your brand to a new market, releasing a new product or service or expanding to another country, you want to give cause to your actions. Every single advertising campaign contact a clear and compelling selling point that moves consumers further down the funnel and closer to the closer. This is called the point of conversion, but it is solely driven by a business that has clearly defined where it is coming from, why the customer should buy their product and how this would improve their life.

It starts off in the boardroom, where all the heads of departments from your business assemble. Here you will stand your troops to attention. Outline clearly your goal for a new product or marketing campaign and spell out your expectations of each member. Each department must have their own section in the call to action brief. In the documents, you must outline how they will work together, what their roles are and the deadlines for everyone to aim for.

Tactile online consumers

It’s crucial you have a compelling message to put across to the audience. This means you need to identify the right fighting grounds, such as online and marketing face to face. In the online world, you should focus and study on how your competition conducts their advertising campaigns. Their motives, target audience, unique selling point, and methodology should be worded in the documents you give to your own marketing team. Take inspiration from a successful brand, but don’t copy and paste their ethos onto yours.

With any digital platform, messaging is critical as it’s the key component when communicating with potential customers. You don’t need a lot of copy space and even a lot of funds to create a campaign that catches the attention of most browsing consumers. You need a compelling, short, sharp message, but at the same time, doesn’t seem rushed or underhanded. Clickbait is dying out, but emotional marketing is rising faster than anything else. Connect your product or service with something meaningful to the majority of consumers.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Real world imagery

The image of your business will nowhere be most tested than in the real world, because you’ll be out in the open, interacting with all kinds of consumers. You can hire a third party marketing team to go out far and wide for your company, but using your own marketing employees is the best option because they know the business from the inside. Apart from having employees distribute and conduct questionnaires on the streets, you could also use high traffic events to reach and expose your brand to new customers.

With a modern screen printing exposure unit, this technology can print off intricate t-shirt designs that are one-of-a-kind. By taking your business to a festival or musical event, you can give these t-shirts away as prizes at your stall. For the testing and feedback of new products and services at these festivals done by customers, these t-shirts can be the reward. People will be wearing your brand logo with perhaps your website or social media accounts on the t-shirt. Essentially, it’s free and long lasting marketing done by consumers themselves. Each staff member should have these t-shirts on while they conduct interviews, introduce themselves, selling products and generally mingle with the crowd.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Test, understand, test again

When testing your marketing strategy on consumers, it can be a very nerve wracking time. Sometimes arbitrary factors have an adverse impact on your campaign, even though the idea and implementation are sound. Don’t let this discourage you and know that this is the exact reason why you should test and test again. Advertisements may look good on paper, they may even look good when finalized, but it all depends on how they’re taken by the consumer. This is why it’s important to test your marketing strategy before it goes live. It’s critical you pay attention to the fluctuations of negative and positive responses to digital advertisements.

A great way to keep ahead of the curve is to monitor your social media accounts, and see how users are responding to your campaign. You should be using a unique hashtag, so whether you’re on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any other large community-based news sharing website, you’re accurately tracking the criticisms you receive. A key factor in not wasting resources and time is to make sure that through the correct algorithm, your advertisements aren’t popping up on consumers that are more than likely not to be interested, especially if you’re in a very specific industry. Marketing campaigns that outright, inadvertently target the wrong type of person, purely eat away at your bandwidth and funds.

Brand marketing campaigns should be treated as a battle plan. You’re going to be contacting consumers from around the world, and first impressions count. The world moves fast, and it’s unfortunate to admit, but you only have one chance to get it right. Assemble your team, make sure they’re notified and informed by a well-written and clear, call to action. Monitor and test your campaign strategy and never think that real world marketing is dead. Present yourself and the brand in public, and show your competition you’re taking them head on by communicating with all consumers in high traffic locations.

Improving Your Website For Business Purposes

/in /by

Many websites all over the internet start off as hobbies, and thousands if not millions of people around the world have turned their website into very successful businesses. This is a guide on how you can turn your site(s) into a business. The most common way of doing this is through blogging, but in this article, there are going to be ideas for those of us that run different kinds of websites.

The first thing you need to think about is what your site offers your visitors. It’s unlikely that you will be getting many visitors if they’re not coming to you for a particular reason. If you’re not entirely sure on what you’ve got to offer, then you need to sit down and think about what it is that you can offer people, and ultimately, what you’re going to make profit from. Once you know this, you can concentrate on constantly improving the content that you’re providing to your audience.


Photo courtesy of Pixabay

If your site hasn’t been particularly successful so far, there is always a way of changing it around. For example, websites like UNILAD offer comedic videos and pictures for it’s viewers. It started off on a rocky road, and was actually shut down in 2012 due to explicit content that was offensive to many people. The site then thought through what they wanted to offer their audience and relaunched in 2014 as a site where people can submit funny videos, pictures, stories and even heartwarming stories too. Unilad offers its viewers to 15 minutes of fame by displaying user submitted content. It is now the top online video channel in the world.

Some websites offer their audiences products that they have produced that will help with many complaints and ailments around the world. If this is what your website is about, it’s likely that you’re using ecommerce to sell your products on your website. If you’re a blogger that uses the platform WordPress, it’s likely you’ve got the plugin called Woocommerce. Although it is a free plugin, it’s not completely customisable on the free plan. There are in fact many other different ways of selling your products, and here you can read up on the best 5 alternatives to woocommerce.


Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Using social media for your website will be one of the most powerful things you can do to promote your website. Use as many social networking platforms as possible to get your website out there. Many successful business have grown and gotten themselves in the spotlight thanks to social media. Remember to be consistent with how much you post for your audience, and keep it relevant to your website. Running giveaways are also a brilliant way of getting your audience engaged. Another way of gaining money from your website, is through adverts.

To summarize, as soon as you know what you’re going to be offering your audience, you can concentrate on providing consistent content. Remember, the money making isn’t going to happen overnight. Good luck with your business adventure.

Creating a Buzz Around Your Brand: Targeting as Many Potential Customers as Possible

/in /by

Generating sales and profit is a challenge for any newly established brand. People are unaware of your existence or wary of your products and services. You haven’t had the opportunity to gain their trust and loyalty yet and competitors are reluctant to let them test the waters with your newly posed competition. So, how do you go about encouraging consumers to take a risk and purchase your products? It’s time to make a name for your company. Here’s how to create a buzz around your brand, drawing the attention of as many potential customers as possible.


Photo courtesy of Pexels

Corporate PR

Corporate PR forges the potential for relationships to develop between your brand and your customers. It opens up a conversation, then leaves you to make sales and prove your worth. A good corporate PR agency will ensure that your company appears in all the right places. It will land you reviews in widely read and influential publications and interviews with widely watched television programs. These agencies place you in the spotlight and give you the chance to really showcase what you’re about. Perfect! The more visible your company is and the more consistently it appears in the public eye for positive reasons, the more familiar consumers will feel with your image and the more likely they are to trust you with their purchases.


Photo courtesy of Pexels

SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a business technique that helps to direct as many people to your website as possible. Every single day, millions of internet users employ the help of search engines to find the pages that they’re looking for. If they want to find the answer to a question, they’ll use a search engine to find a site that will provide them with the relevant information. If they want to know what time a certain store opens, they will use search engines to direct them to the company’s site, preferably directly to the page detailing their store details. If they want a certain product, they will use a search engine to find the brands that supply it. It’s not surprising then, that to turn over the maximum profits possible, you want to be featured high in the search engine’s results. The closer you are to the top of the list, the more likely people are going to click on your link and the more traffic directed to your site. Once consumers are on your page, the products will sell themselves. So, how do you go about directing the maximum volume of traffic to your web page? The answer? By educating yourself. Take the SEO class online to gain a full comprehension of SEO. There are so many more factors that will help you to excel in the field than you could imagine: marketing personas, marketing funnel, search fundamentals, searcher intent, search framework, channel selection, branded searches, document relevancy, URL optimization, link neighborhoods. The list goes on and on. So, it’s time to start swotting up!

Customer Reviews

With increasing numbers of people gaining their information online comes another issue that your company needs to prioritize: online customer reviews. Nowadays, individual, non-professional reviews can have a more beneficial or negative effect on your sales than ever before. The internet has given everyday people a platform to express their love or disdain for a product, service or brand that can reach a worldwide audience. So focus on gaining positive feedback. If you offer high-quality produce and impeccable service, you can’t really go wrong. However, if you do receive a complaint or negative feedback, contact the individual who has made it. Discuss the problem with them. Question what they dislike about your service and how things could be improved. Chances are, you can easily rectify the situation by offering a refund, exchange or other means of compensation. This will ensure that you maintain a good relationship with this individual consumer (they will recognize your company as going above and beyond their call of duty) and encourage them to alter their review. Hundreds of thousands of people will have access to this and trust it, so it’s essential that you put wrongs to right. You can also use the situation to ensure that you don’t make the same mistake again. You will be able to constantly improve, ensuring that you don’t receive negative complaints in the future.

If you follow all of these steps, it won’t be long until your brand is part of the public consciousness. People will feel familiar with your company and place their trust in you to provide them with everything that they expect from their transaction. This means you will have more happy and loyal customers and the increasing profit that comes hand in hand with them.