Marketing / Design

Even in 2012, a lot of people are still uncomfortable buying things online. As an eCommerce business it’s your responsibility to make each and every one of your customers feel as safe as possible purchasing products from you. In order to do this, there are some effective and proven methods for building trust on your site.



1. Trusted Symbols



A common and quick way to build trust is by using logos customers are already familiar with. A good example of this is the Better Business Bureau symbol. It is commonly added to sites by businesses that are a part of the organization. This is effective because customers know only businesses following best practices can be accepted into the group. So if they trust the Better Business Bureau, they trust you. Can you think of any other trusted organizations you are a part of or secure payment processes you use in order to make prospective customers feel safe?

2. Testimonials



Testimonials are a great example of social proof. If someone can see that others are buying from you and are satisfied with the results, they are much more likely to trust in you since someone else already has. Testimonials show you have a proven history of excellence.

3. Clear Support



People want to know that after they purchase from you it won’t be the last time you talk to them. By having clear contact info, live chat, and support channels it shows you care and are willing to answer their questions or even hold their hand throughout the purchasing process if needed. Customers are human after all, they want to know they’ll be taken care of.

Read more: 5 Ways to Build Trust On Your eCommerce Site

As online retailers, we tend to focus on traditional sales methods to ramp up conversions in our online stores. But the availability of prebuilt features and modules created expressly for unconventional selling methods gives you a new and rare opportunity as an online retailer to drive more sales with new selling strategies.

One of the most important parts of establishing your brand online is ensuring major differentiators between you and your competition. By offering customers unconventional ways to purchase products, you’ll put miles between you and the competition, which will help drive up leads and, as a result, conversions.

Take a look below for five unconventional ways to sell products online.

1. Let your customers make their own offer on specific products.

Ever seen the “name your own price” Priceline commercials? Cheesy? Yes. An effective sales strategy? Also yes. The hospitality industry probably runs on different market rules than your store, but the concept is the same: give your customers the opportunity to bid on certain items and you’ll increase the likelihood of a sale.

Read more: Unconventional Ways to Sell Products Online

In a time with so much economic uncertainly, consumers are on the hunt for bargains. And consumers aren't the only ones tightening up their belts; businesses large and small are scrutinizing purchases more than ever.

Whether your company sells to consumers or business, creative promotion strategies can give sales a much-needed boost to revenues in a difficult economy. To generate ideas, take a look at the big retailers. While the economy is slow, the big box stores are pulling out all the stops to bring customers in the door (and to their websites).

Following is a list of promotion strategies from the real world. Use these to inspire ideas for generating creative promotions for your business. Though many of these are used in retail sales, they can easily be replicated for all kinds of businesses.

Read more: Promotion Strategies to Crank Up Sales in a Slow Economy

Anyone who's taken a basic marketing class knows that word of mouth marketing, while severely limited in reach, has the highest rate of conversions. When we advertise our own business, potential customers suspect that any claims that we make may very well be exaggerated or outright false. After all, it's in our own best interest to speak well of the product or service we're selling. However, when a trusted friend or family member praises a product or service, you as a customer are much more likely to believe them without reservations. They have nothing to gain if you buy from the business or not, so what reason would they have to inflate the truth or make unrealistic claims?

One of the amazing by-products of Social media is that it has extended the reach of word of mouth marketing. A simple comment about how incredible your product is may have reached a handful of ears in the past. Now, a single comment can potentially reach thousands instantly. Of course, this is a double edged sword and negative comments can spread just as quickly as positive ones and cause immediately destructive if left unchecked. However, publicity is publicity and if caught quickly and handled properly and honestly, destructive comments can be turned around in your favor.

Read more: Controlling Negative Publicity Via Social Media

If you think your great idea and your business plan is the chief cornerstone of your business, you're in for a rude awakening. Granted, your business plan is important, your great idea is important, but how you really portray those ideas to the public is the chief cornerstone of your business.

That's where your LOGO comes into play. Let's stop for a minute and determine what your logo is and what it should do. Your logo defines your identity as a business.

Your identity is what portrays you to the public. A combination of elements. Your logo. Your brand. Your style. Chosen correctly the logo can propel your business to national recognition and become household symbol.

Read more: The Cornerstone of Your Company Design:

You might think that because your business is ecommerce you can avoid some of the more traditional business pieces of marketing: i.e. business cards.

Alas, this is not the case. Just because you have established your business online does not mean that you can dispense with the obligatory contact cards to use for networking and advertising.

Now the real question is should you pay a professional to create your business card or do you tackle it yourself? Obviously your best course of action WOULD be to hire a professional, but if you are constrained by budget concerns and aren't at the place to really pay for professional services then it IS possible to do it yourself as long as you follow a few basic Do's and Don'ts of good business card design. Let's look at some of the things you will want to remember to create a card that will pit your best foot forward without breaking the bank.

Read more: The DIY Business Card

The idea that Web visitors are easily overwhelmed also affects the use of images in your content. The saying that, "picture is worth a thousand words" is incredibly true with the Web.

As visually oriented as we are these days, often, more can be accomplished with a well placed, Web-optimized image than the verbal explanation. The important thing to remember is that any images embedded into the content should contribute to the content, not distract from it.

A note about Web-optimized images: It's fairly common for people to take images right from their digital cameras, scanners, or other devices and just slap them onto their Web site. The problem is that these images are usually optimized for print media by default, so their resolution and size are much greater than what is needed for the Web.

Read more: Image Optimization

The process of creating an HTML e-mail for an email marketing campaign is very different from creating a basic web page. Though the files are stored on a web server similiarily, the creation process requires strict adherence to specific to guidelines developed to ensure that the e-mail can be viewed properly from a variety of e-mail clients (i.e. Hotmail, Gmail, Outlook etc.).

Read more: Emails: How the Process Works

• 

  Author: Demo Administrator

  Picking a Good Site Design

  Creating the Site; The Client Story: 80% of the clients that are in the market for a Web site have been severely taken advantage of, or mistreated in the past. They have been ripped off by a Web designer who either charged too much, held them captive or never finished the site.

  The other 20% are always interested but often afraid to take the leap. What do you need to know before hiring someone to create a site for you? Let's begin by dissolving some common myths about the Web: SEO: the facts. The FACT is that NOBODY can PROMISE that you'll be the TOP link on a Google search UNLESS you are willing to pay for an ad slot on their site.

Read more: Picking a Good Site Design

Obeying the laws of eMail campaigns is incredibly important if you want to stay in business.  Recently, lawmakers have cracked down on those that abuse the contact information they have gained from their constituents. Here are some terms to familiarize yourself with as you stay within the legal boundraries*

Read more: Emails: Keep it Legal