With the holiday season in full swing, it’s time to start thinking about how to boost your e-commerce sales in the upcoming year. As the e-commerce industry continues to grow, it’s becoming increasingly important for online retailers to stay ahead of the competition and maximize their sales. Global e-commerce sales are expected to reach $5.4 trillion by the end of this year, up from $4.28 trillion in 2021, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down in 2023.
Inspired by the 12 days of Christmas, we’ve rounded up our 12 best tips for you to take into 2023 to help you boost your revenue and set you up for your most successful year to date.
1. Embrace automation
Automation can help e-commerce businesses streamline processes and reduce manual labor and costs. As a result, this enables businesses, especially smaller ones with limited resources, to focus more on high-value tasks like marketing, customer service, and improving the customer experience. Tools like Cymbio that are built around automating otherwise manual tasks between brands and retailers can also help streamline processes like inventory management and order fulfillment, making it easier for brands to scale without worrying about managing the technical side of things.
2. Grow your social media strategy
There are a lot of ways your social media strategy and your revenue growth strategy can intersect. If you aren’t already engaged in social selling, 2023 is the time to start. Statistics show that B2B marketers that use social selling increase their number of leads by 33%. Aside from that, your social media strategy can have positive effects on your revenue in other ways, such as:
- Increasing brand awareness to reach new interested audiences
- Promoting products to a larger audience with paid campaigns or organic posts
- Increasing referral traffic from your social channels to your website
3. Work on your customer service
By providing customers with timely, efficient, and helpful customer service, businesses can build trust with their customers and improve customer loyalty. This can lead to increased sales and higher customer retention rates, which can ultimately result in increased revenue. To accomplish this, invest in customer service technology such as live chat and customer management systems. You should also ensure your response time is quick, you’re regularly gathering customer feedback, and that your customers can reach you on different channels.
4. Sell on marketplaces
Did you know that brands that sell on marketplaces generate 190% more revenue? Marketplaces provide access to a larger customer base and make it easier for customers to discover products. By only selling on your own website, you’re limiting your revenue possibilities to one channel. Instead, expand to multiple marketplaces in order to get your brand and products in front of a wider audience.
If you’re not yet embracing the power of retailers and marketplaces, Cymbio can help connect you with ones that are right for your business. Our platform also makes it easier to organize and maintain control of marketplace e-commerce operations.
5. Leverage retargeting
Retargeting reminds potential customers of their interest in a product or service to keep a brand top-of-mind, encouraging them to purchase. Retargeting can also be used to personalize ads to customers based on their previous shopping habits and interests, increasing the likelihood of a purchase.
Many e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify, offer automated retargeting features, such as triggered abandoned cart reminders, making it easier for you to focus on this strategy in the new year.
6. Gather customer reviews
Reviews provide social proof, which can entice potential customers to make a purchase if they see that other customers have had positive experiences. Reviews can also help businesses to identify potential improvements that can be made to products and services, enabling them to optimize their offerings and increase revenue. Finally, reviews can help to boost your SEO rankings, leading to more organic traffic and potential sales.
7. Turn to influencers
The influencer marketing industry expanded to $16.4 billion in 2022 and it continues to grow at a steady pace year after year. If you’re not yet on board this train, the new year is the time to start. Influencers can provide a platform to help promote products and services, increasing visibility and exposure, and leading to increased brand awareness. They also create content that helps generate interest, drive sales, and help brands establish relationships with customers, increasing loyalty and repeat purchases.
8. Grow your m-commerce
According to Shopify, nearly half, or 42.9% of all e-commerce purchases will be made on a mobile device by 2024. This is why it’s important to grow your m-commerce, or mobile commerce, strategy in the new year.
Consumers are increasingly using their phones and tablets to purchase products and services, so brands should take advantage of this trend by optimizing their websites for mobile devices, creating mobile-friendly shopping experiences, and offering mobile payment options. Additionally, businesses should consider launching mobile-only campaigns and promotions to reach new customers and drive more sales.
9. Take sustainable steps
Customers are increasingly looking for eco-friendly products, services, and brands committing to ESG values. By demonstrating a commitment to sustainability, brands can improve customer trust, drive brand loyalty, and attract new customers who value sustainable practices.
Nowhere is this more true than with Gen Z shoppers, who continue to have more and more buying power each year. According to a report, 67% of Gen Z shoppers prefer buying from brands that appeal to their social conscience. 2023 is the perfect time to embrace new sustainability and ethical practices to help grow your relationship with your audience.
10. Kick up your SEO strategy
SEO helps e-commerce businesses increase revenue by increasing visibility in search engine results, driving organic traffic, and improving conversions. While there’s nothing wrong with running paid ads or relying on the branding and marketing of retailers and marketplaces, 60% of marketers agree that inbound SEO, such as blog content, is their biggest source of quality leads.
If you already have an SEO strategy in place, 2023 is the time to kick it up a notch. As many brands contend with rising costs and inflation, they’re looking for ways to become more cost-efficient. Focusing your time instead on creating content that will rank rather than pouring your entire budget into ad spending has the potential to gain visibility and convert more leads.
11. Focus on multichannel marketing
We already mentioned how selling on retailers and marketplaces is a logical next step for brands hoping to scale, but those aren’t the only channels you can expand to. Utilizing a variety of marketing channels can help brands reach a wider audience.
In 2023, try to run coordinated campaigns on different channels, such as email, paid ads, organic search, and social media. While it can be difficult to scale to new channels with limited time and resources, business tools like Cymbio can help you expand your business to sell on social channels as well, putting new marketing channels at your fingertips.
12. Expand your audience
You may have already honed in on your target audience and created a detailed buyer persona. However, once you’ve solidified who your audience is, you’re left to market your products to a limited number of people. For some brands, this might work, however, it doesn’t leave much room for growth.
Some of the strategies we’ve mentioned above will help you tap into new audiences. Selling on channels such as social media, retailers, and marketplaces might introduce you to a whole new market segment that is interested in your products for different reasons than your specific target audience, providing you with new revenue opportunities.
Unwrap the gift of growing your business this season
Whether you celebrate all 12 days of Christmas, just the evening, or not at all, there’s no denying that the tips shared here will be the gifts that keep on giving in 2023. As business begins to quiet down at the beginning of the new year, take the opportunity to test out some of these new strategies to see how they work for you. If you’re ever in doubt, schedule a call with our digital sales experts at Cymbio to see how we can help you grow your business and increase your revenue in the new year.
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