Over 1.5 billion websites exist on the Internet at the time of writing, and you can be sure that many of those sites have similar content! As you can appreciate, that fact can be unsettling when your brand is trying to sell products and services online.
Selling in a saturated market can be very challenging for most businesses, irrespective of their niche. You have to somehow convince your target market that they should buy from you instead of established brands on the Web.
But what’s the “secret sauce” that can help you gain the upper hand when trying to sell in a saturated online market? The truth is, there’s no hard and fast way to achieve that objective.
It takes a bit of trial and error to determine what’s best for your needs, budget, and business goals. The following ideas will give you some inspiration to help you get started and, hopefully, reach a satisfactory conclusion:
1. Make Your Brand Unique
It might seem like an obvious suggestion, but it’s always a good idea to make your brand unique. For example, pay a professional branding expert to create a great brand name, logo, and slogan. Don’t just download some ready-made vector imagery and hope for the best!
The good news is that you don’t need to spend thousands on your branding, so if you’re starting a new brand on a shoestring, you can keep your startup costs low.
2. Properly Define Your Target Audience
Who do you think is most likely to buy your products and services? If you don’t have an answer to that question, now’s the time to define your target audience.
One of the leading reasons for the death knell sounding for any new brand is because they haven’t got a clue about their likely customers.
For example, if you are launching a brand selling feminine products, women are your most likely demographic. If you plan to sell vehicle diagnostic tools, mechanics and workshop owners will be at the core of your customer base.
3. Focus On Relevant SEO Strategies
You only have to type into Google the phrase “SEO strategies” and you’ll find billions of results returned! You should never assume that all strategies advertised by most websites will work for your brand, so it’s worth researching the ones most relevant to your business.
For instance, answer engine optimization can be ideal if you sell products that help people fix stuff. If SEO research is a bit out of your league, consider paying an expert to do that work for you.
4. Don’t Design Your Website For You
Did you know that a classic mistake made by new website owners is when they design sites that only they love? As you can appreciate, it’s best to design a site for your online home that appeals to a broad cross-section of your target audience.
During the design phase of your website, consider surveying people in your target market to determine which features will make them more likely to do something like contact you or buy stuff.
5. Hire A Social Media Expert
You might spend thousands of PPC (pay-per-click) marketing campaigns or even optimize your content for organic SERPs (search engine results pages). However, neither of those things will be the bulk source of your visitors.
Why? The answer is simple: today’s Internet users are most likely to make buying decisions based on recommendations from other humans.
Social media is a great source of website traffic, so hire an expert to help you engage with your target market on platforms like Facebook and Tiktok.
6. Consider Creating Explainer Videos
Your website’s product pages might be highly SEO-optimized and contain well-written text alongside professional photographs. The thing is, people will want to see real-life examples of products before buying them.
It might surprise you to learn that many folks check out YouTube for product unboxing videos and real-world testing, especially for technology like smartphones.
An explainer video for each product (created in YouTube and embedded in the relevant product page, of course!) is the perfect way to give people a “feel” for the things you’re trying to sell.
7. Tell A Great Story
The days of creating boring corporate website content are over. Customers want brands to understand their needs and pain points, but they also want to know more about a brand’s origins and the reasons for its existence.
That’s why you should tell a great story to your website’s visitors. Your brand’s origins and journey will give potential customers an insight into your business and why they should spend money with you instead of your competitors.
8. Harness The Power Of Testimonials
You’ve likely got many satisfied customers – even if your brand is new to the market. It makes sense to have those happy people tell the world why they’ve had such a positive experience with your brand because it will encourage other people to buy from you as well.
Consider using an independent review service to make your ratings and feedback have more clout with potential customers. You can usually embed that information on your website with just a few snippets of HTML code.
9. Make It Easy To Buy Stuff
Getting people hooked on your brand is only part of the customer journey. You still need to get them to buy your products and services!
Make it easy for customers to purchase what they want from your website. Offer them multiple payment methods, such as debit and credit card processing, digital wallets like PayPal, and even cryptocurrency like Bitcoin!
10. Create An Emotional Connection
One final idea to help your brand stand out from the digital crowd is by creating an emotional connection with your customers. Thankfully, it’s easy to do as you’ve got several ways of achieving that goal.
An example mentioned earlier is by talking about the history of your brand. Another is to offer case studies that show your products and services used by customers in real-world settings.