5 Best Approaches To Increase Sales

The pressure is on for businesses to constantly find innovative strategies to increase sales in today’s competitive market. It’s easier said than done, though. Between shifting consumer behavior, a flood of marketing messages vying for attention, and economic uncertainty, even the best sales teams struggle to keep their numbers high.

Fortunately, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel or shell out massive amounts of money on consultants to create a marketing strategy for successful sales. A combination of optimizing strategies you’re likely already using and trying some fresh approaches could make a significant difference.

Understanding the Customer Journey To Craft Better Strategies to Increase Sales

People rarely go from completely unaware of a brand to pulling out their credit cards for a purchase after only a single interaction. Although there isn’t one “right” customer journey because different demographics engage with content in different ways, most people experience several touchpoints along the way. The goal is to be top of mind at each of these stages:

Awareness

People may be aware they have a problem even if they don’t realize there’s a solution for it. This makes creating educational content such as blog posts, videos, infographics, social media updates, and ebooks a popular strategy at this point in the buyer journey.

Consideration

When prospects realize they need to solve a problem, they research their options. They start comparing brands, reading reviews, and considering their choices carefully. Thought leadership plays an integral role during the Consideration stage because businesses get the opportunity to distinguish themselves as trustworthy experts. One report even indicated that it’s even more valuable than product marketing.

Sales teams may provide product demos, answer questions, and offer personalized recommendations. Meanwhile, content marketers continue providing valuable, targeted content in different formats such as case studies, white papers, or webinars.

Decision

The potential customer is ready to make a purchase – but from who? They may have narrowed down their options but need help deciding which one is the best fit. Case studies demonstrating successful outcomes using your brand as well as testimonials are persuasive for prospects on the fence. Sales promotions, free trials, and personalized offers may seal the deal at this critical moment.

Leveraging Existing Customer Relationships

While the challenge of acquiring new customers can feel daunting, you likely already have access to your most valuable source of positive reviews, brand advocates, and returning clients – satisfied people who already do business with you. You’re more likely to boost sales from your current base than you are a new contact.

But why are so many customers reluctant to make another purchase or recommend brands to their networks, despite having good experiences? The truth is they don’t believe companies appreciate them. Fortunately, studies show most prioritize feeling seen and valued over brands vying for new clients through flashy sales and marketing campaigns aimed exclusively at new people. One of the best and most effective sales strategies without allocating massive amounts of resources to your budget could be as simple as improving communication with existing customers.

Acknowledge Customer Needs and Pain Points

There’s a lot businesses of all sizes and industries can accomplish when they commit to acknowledging what their existing customer base actually needs. Focus on how they utilize the brand’s products or services and where gaps may exist in the overall customer experience. If people feel unheard and misunderstood, why would they invest even more money with the company? However, demonstrating understanding and respect can inspire the kind of intense brand loyalty today’s market desperately craves. This process doesn’t have to be overly complicated, it all comes down to collecting data.

Conduct Thorough Market Research

Start by conducting comprehensive market research with a focus on customer behavior, motivations, and feedback. Customer feedback can be gathered in many ways. Ask questions about your customer’s usage habits, challenges, and preferences using tools such as surveys, online forums, and one-on-one interviews.

Leverage the Power of Analytics and CRM

One of the many powerful benefits of today’s Customer Relations Management platforms is the robust, highly-specific data companies gain from analyzing customer information. Track user activity on your site and analyze browsing data. Pay attention to things like purchase history, product preferences, customer service interactions, and social media engagement.

Go Above and Beyond to Solve Customer Problems

Although it doesn’t directly involve pitching for more money, demonstrating your value by going the extra mile helps your brand establish itself as an authority and cultivates strong, positive customer relationships. Rather than viewing customer issues with frustration, reframe their complaints as opportunities for you to learn and grow.

And never forget that happy customers typically turn into loyal brand advocates who freely share their experiences – good and bad – with their networks on social media and beyond.

Implement a High-Value Referral Program

Speaking of brand advocates, why not offer an incentive for happy clients to help expand your reach? When deciding what perks to include as part of your referral program, get creative and keep your unique audience top of mind. Brainstorm ideas that won’t break the bank while still demonstrating respect for loyal customers’ time, energy, and recommendations.

Do your customers need support understanding complex international trade policies for their products or services? Perhaps they would benefit from personalized consultations on market research, government grants and programs, employee management, and regulations surrounding intellectual property. Maybe networking events designed to connect entrepreneurs and build mutually-beneficial relationships are more their speed. Offering discounts on popular, high-demand products can be surprisingly effective. Some other ideas include providing early access to new offerings or free shipping on online orders.

Experiment with Targeted Promotions and Incentives

Show existing customers you value their continued business by offering occasional exclusive promotions such as:

• Discounts for a limited time period.
• Bonus products or services with specific purchases.
• Free shipping or expedited delivery options.
• Early access to sales and new offerings.
• Customer appreciation events or webinars.

Exploring Inbound Marketing Tactics

Although it takes longer to realize an ROI than outbound methods because of all the work involved in researching and creating content, inbound marketing offers sustainable, affordable strategies to increase sales for organizations with time on their hands and lean marketing budgets. Instead of spending huge amounts of money on paid ad campaigns, for instance, inbound relies on building authentic relationships over time and drawing prospects to you naturally by offering relevant, high-quality content that delivers consistent value and solves problems.

Rather than interrupting people’s attention, this strategy is all about giving generously. When done well, your target market will do your sales team’s job for them.

So where should you focus your efforts when planning an inbound marketing campaign? This table highlights some of the most effective tactics:

Experimenting With Paid Strategies

While content marketing offers sustainable, budget-friendly strategies to increase sales, sometimes you need to spend money to make money. Paid tactics such as targeted advertising, influencer campaigns, and sponsored social media posts reach large, specific segments of your ideal customer base far faster than organic content creation. Because they provide in-depth analytics with highly valuable metrics to analyze success rates and measure engagement, these paid tactics are also popular choices for measuring ROI.

So how have marketers around the globe seen the most success in recent years using paid advertising campaigns to increase sales? Let’s take a look at some popular options:

Retargeting

While annoying, intrusive online ads targeting you everywhere you go online with products you have zero interest in rarely inspire positive experiences, research shows retargeted campaigns increase the chances of conversion significantly when compared with first-time visitors. They gently remind shoppers about products they’ve shown prior interest in. Nobody can deny that driving traffic back to your site offers significant opportunities to boost revenue.

Email Marketing

Although most marketers agree email is the king for open and conversion rates – indeed nearly ninety percent prefer it for lead generation. – it still involves finding the right people to connect with, and growing your email list organically takes time. So incorporating paid email marketing as part of a multi-faceted campaign to support strategies to increase sales quickly continues to deliver significant returns.

Pay Per Click (PPC)

Driving targeted traffic to a specific landing page with an irresistible offer as quickly as possible can jump-start a stagnant campaign and boost revenue nearly instantly with proven ROI, which makes strategies like PPC – while more expensive – highly effective for many brands looking for fast, trackable results. This makes sense because PPC allows companies to reach potential buyers actively searching for keywords related to their products or services with high visibility at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). So instead of waiting patiently for your audience to organically discover your content as part of an SEO or content marketing campaign, these ads drive them directly to landing pages and sales funnels.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing uses a combination of free and paid tactics such as influencer sponsorships, video content creation, targeted ads, and sponsored posts to connect with audiences on platforms where they’re already spending countless hours each day. Most businesses consider it an integral aspect of building any comprehensive plan that prioritizes brand awareness, lead generation, and engaging existing and future customers in meaningful, memorable ways.

When you factor in how many people utilize at least one social media platform daily – in fact, we’re talking billions of active accounts. – it’s not hard to understand why marketers at small and large brands alike continue embracing strategies focused on digital engagement.

FAQs About Strategies to Increase Sales

What are 3 practical strategies to increase sales?

Start by actively listening to customer needs and tailoring your communication accordingly. People are more willing to spend their hard-earned money when they feel heard and understood. Provide a referral program with perks your target audience finds genuinely valuable as a thank you for their positive reviews and loyalty. Lastly, give email newsletters a shot. With such incredibly high conversion rates it would be a shame to ignore its potential.

What are the three keys to increase sales?

You’ve likely already heard this countless times before because it never stops ringing true; prioritize building strong customer relationships, offer an outstanding product or service, and create a fantastic marketing plan.

What are 7 steps of sales strategy?

Defining goals and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) sets a firm foundation from which to analyze your strategies. Next, research your target audience extensively. Who are they, how do they behave online, and where do they hang out on social media?

Then identify a problem that resonates with them, tailor a compelling solution, and make sure to get your pricing right. Your content and messaging should offer a blend of what you provide, why people need you in their lives, and a clear call to action. Don’t forget to follow up on leads and ask for the sale. You worked hard to bring people this far; now close the deal.

Finally, be sure to regularly monitor progress with ongoing refinement.

How do you increase your sales?

Although the “best” strategies for your particular organization depend on unique factors such as your industry, customer base, size, available resources, and specific needs, it never hurts to try embracing technology, improving communication, prioritizing value and client education over “always be closing,” experimenting with PPC campaigns, acknowledging feedback and making positive changes based on insights gleaned, tracking vital metrics for all major initiatives, and understanding your sales funnel inside and out.

Work With Checkout Champ for a Platform That IS a Sales Growth Strategy

It can be challenging to create sales tactics that are unique, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or expensive. A multifaceted, data-driven approach will help maximize ROI while establishing trust, building a sustainable brand, and earning customer loyalty by addressing customer pain points, optimizing processes, and regularly evaluating what’s working (and what isn’t) to stay ahead of trends and evolve your strategies.

When you invest in solutions you believe in with the right people at the helm, success is more likely to follow. And always be open to trying out fresh ideas. Checkout Champ is one of those fresh ideas. This ecommerce store platform is for those that need a website or have a website and want a faster checkout. Book a time with us to learn more about how we can help you grow your business to the next level.