It wasn’t that long ago where having a captivating, consumer-friendly eCommerce site was the highest priority for online sellers. Cyber shopping was a novelty and Black Friday was the big holiday shopping news story. In today’s tech drenched World, online competition is fierce and sites have to continually stay ahead of their competition.
Readers of this site are familiar with the concept of Inbound Marketing and the strategy of having your target customers find you. In today’s “bring your own device” (BYOD) society, it is essential to use a “pull” approach to allow your buyers to find you as opposed to a “push” approach where you broadcast your message in the hopes that buyers will hear it and respond. At EYEMAGINE, we take this approach one step further and synergize eCommerce with Inbound Marketing to create Inbound Commerce.
Inbound Commerce is the combination of the 3 C’s : Content, Commerce, and Community that work together to align your site with your target customers. In order for your commerce to succeed, you need to build a loyal community, attracting them with valuable informative content.
The first step to doing this is to understand your unique selling proposition (USP). This could be in the form of a mission statement, elevator pitch; something that distills the key values and identity that sets your eCommerce business apart from other businesses. Don’t be dissuaded by the thought that your product doesn’t have a USP. Even the simplest of products--which may appear to be commodities--can still be innovative and remarkable.
Once you understand what sets your product apart, it’s time to determine who your potential audience is. Understanding your audience and knowing your buyer personas is key in telling the story of your business.
What do we mean by story? This is where the content you put out, the bait on your fishing line, works to “catch” your target customer. Content is key to effective Inbound Commerce. Telling your story with your USP and buyer’s persona in mind is the difference between ringing a dinner bell and yelling for everyone to come in, and inviting your customers into the dinner party to feast on content catered to them.
Those of you savvy about Inbound Marketing will recognize that these steps are the building blocks of that methodology. How do these actions energize your eCommerce site? It is working to ensure that all aspects of your website align with your USP and buyer persona as well.
Your site needs to align with your buyers in order to turn them into enthusiasts. They need to be able to easily navigate from browsing to checkout with a virtual experience that is intuitive.
It needs to be a site that provides social proof, such as reviews, that helps potential buyers see how others trust you; allowing their positive thoughts of you to grow.
It means giving your shoppers a virtual experience that quell’s their biggest concerns about shopping online.
Examples of this are:
- Using large product imagery to give them an in-person experience with your product.
- Provide customers with an easy return policy to lower their barriers to purchasing with you for the first time.
Think about what other products, services or incentives you can add to your online shopping experience to get buyers to keep coming back.
