Driving Traffic to Your Online Store

There’s still a lot of confusion about online marketing and social media, as well as how and where the two intersect. At last month’s Ask the Experts panel both were a hot topic as we discussed how to drive traffic to online stores. Many of the foundational rules apply to non-selling websites as well.

First and foremost, as with any marketing program, you must have a strategy – the why you’re doing what you’re doing – or you won’t be successful. I cannot stress this enough.

Not having a strategy is like going to the grocery store without a recipe in mind. You’ll come home with a bunch of ingredients, but there’s no guarantee it will be the right combination to actually prepare an edible dish.

Because it’s perceived as free, people are all too willing to spend endless hours online. Time is money, so it’s not free – make sure you spend wisely.

Here are a few things to consider before you get too far into your online marketing:

1. Determine your target audience. Who are you trying to connect with? Even if you have a broad market, choose a niche type of client to focus on. Use Sponge Marketingâ„¢ and prove success with one type of customer before branching out.
2. Locate your target audience online. Find out what blogs or newsletters you ideal customer follows and reads, where they go for information, and what type of information captures their attention. This may be very different than what they do in “real” life.
3. Observe your online audience. One thing that frustrates traditional marketers is the idea of actually conversing with their customers rather than telling them stuff. Social media is a new paradigm, one that requires a dialogue not a monologue.
4. Choose tools that connect you to your customers. Not everyone uses social media, certain types of people prefer video to text. Linked In may mean nothing or may be the only appropriate tool for your targets. Figure it out, don’t try to do everything.
5. Develop a key message. Figure out what you’re trying to say, then say it. And, as I always, it’s about what they need to hear not what you want to say.
6. Engage. Figure it out, don’t try to do everything.

We covered a lot of ground with the sold out Ask the Experts attendees, more than I can cover here. You can read a bit more about it on fellow panelist Jonathon Narvey’s post at Write Image.

Tips and Tricks of the Trade

A big part of being successful with an online store is having the backend technology and processes to support the business and purchase transactions. There are obvious basics to cover, like online security, but it never ceases to amaze me how often the actual transaction process – the steps a customer goes through to make the purchase – is not evaluated from the customer’s perspective and is a barrier that prevents people from buying. It’s no good getting people to your site if they get frustrated and leave without making a purchase!

I asked Rob Stocks of ideaLEVER, host of the November Ask the Experts, How to Drive Traffic to Your Online Store, to share his top four recommendations for businesses that want to build a successful online store.

1. Experience – You need to select a development team with e-commerce experience appropriate to your business goals. You don’t want them to be learning or experimenting with your business. Experience makes everything easier.
2. Multi-Currency – To sell to the US and internationally, you need to be able to sell in US dollars, but you don’t want to alienate local customers so you also need to sell in Canadian dollars. Everyone knows their exchange rate with the USD, while very few international customers know their exchange rate in Canadian dollars.
3. Taxes – Many US platforms including PayPal don’t support Canadian taxes. You need to charge HST to people in the Maritimes, GST to everyone, and PST for customers in BC…and these rules can change at any time. Avoid the headache and nightmare by choosing a provider who considers these variables. Did I mention the importance of experience?
4. Transaction Processing – You should not have to change your existing banking relationships for your e-commerce site. A proven platform and an experienced development team should be able to work with any transaction processor.

A little planning ahead and an experienced development team can simplify, streamline and increase your online sales.