Running promotions from your e-commerce online store is nothing new. Businesses regularly run special promotions to help improve sales and build a loyal customer base. After all, your customers like to feel they are getting a good deal.
An online promotional campaign will differ from that used by a brick and mortar business in terms of the potential reach of the campaign and the many more ways there are to connect with a large audience.
In this article we look at some ideas, techniques and activities that will enable you to make the most of your e-commerce deals.
Pre-Launch
- Use your blog and social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) to help build anticipation prior to the launch
- Place a banner prominently on your home page featuring a ‘coming soon’ message
- Install an analytical programme on your ecommerce site to track the most profitable sources of web traffic
- Prepare a press release to announce the promotion
Launching the Promotion
- Update the banner on the home page and link through to the deal
- Include a banner promoting your deal at the top of each product category listings
- Distribute your press release to press release sites, industry blogs and other media
- Use your social media sites to encourage traffic to visit your promotional pages
- Set up an Adwords campaign to help drive traffic in key product sectors
- Send out an email newsletter (or two) to attract existing customers
- Cross sell your promotion from other product pages
- Offer a commission/affiliate deal to influential bloggers within your niche.
- Add a QR code to offline materials which links directly to your online promotion (for mobiles).
Post Launch
- Website analytics help identify what traffic sources worked best and where promotional funds may best be spent
- Determine what lessons can be learned to improve your next campaign.
To conclude, the question for online product promotions is whether you can make your campaigns run ever more effectively, increasing sales, customer conversion rates and delivering a desired ROI.
If you would like help improving the promotional power for your ecommerce website, please call us on 08450 740068.