24 Jul 13 Ideas to Increase Sales Online and Build Brand Awareness
Let’s face it, we live in a time where as a business owner, you have so many options to advertise your brand online in the hopes of gaining more traffic to your website. You do your best to create valuable social media accounts, increase your online sales and improve your brand growth.
The right combination of advertising can make all the difference in the pursuit of any and all of these outcomes.
With so many different avenues available for your advertising budget, we’re going to give you a start with 13 ideas to increase sales online and build brand awareness through digital marketing.
In this article, you’ll learn about ways to build brand awareness through digital marketing, how these ideas to increase sales work, and why you should speak to a LYFE expert on how to manage your online advertising.
- Google Search Ads
With over 3.5 billion searches per day, Google ads are a powerful tool for small business owners and established corporations alike. Let’s take a peek into the number one PPC form of advertising, Google Ads, to see if it’s a good fit to incorporate into your marketing plan.
The PPC Model
PPC stands for pay-per-click, a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.
Growth from PPC is sometimes considered less organic than other forms of advertising, but is still considered one of the most successful ideas to increase sales and generate customer leads.
Use the Google Search Network to place ads on the search engine results pages (SERP). When your audience searches for businesses like yours, your ads will appear and the outcome is direct traffic to your website.
What is Google Ads?
For starters, Google Ads is one of the most used PPC advertising systems out there. Its platform allows businesses to create ads that appear on Google’s search engine.
Ads operates on a pay-per-click model. This system allows advertisers to reach potential customers at a cost that suits your budget.
Google Ads are effective, and is one of the best ideas to increase sales. Need proof? See how we made it possible for three small businesses to increase sales by over 457%.
2. Google Remarketing Display Ads
Remarketing ads are banner ads used to stay in front of your recent website visitors to increase conversions. The more times people see your brand, the more likely they are to buy.
3. Website Design
It’s true. We’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to website designs.
First impressions matter. In fact, it’s said that it only takes 1/10th of a second for an opinion to form, and websites are no exception to this snap judgment making.
To make sure you’re making a good first impression, consider the following SEO (Search Engine Optimization) elements that make for a top-notch site and the perfect ideas to increase sales online:
– Said No One, Ever
- Mobile Friendly
For the love of guac, be sure your website is mobile friendly. Would it surprise you to know that 77% of Americans own a smartphone? Likely not. It seems like just about everywhere you turn someone is texting, on the phone, scrolling through social media, and browsing the web. A mobile friendly site means that it should have a responsive design. Regardless of the size of screen the consumer is viewing your site, the website’s elements should readily adapt.
- Easy Navigation
People expect loading time to be minimal and navigation to be simple, so if your site meets both of these expectations, you’re in good shape, and likely to see a significant increase in the amount of traffic on your site compared to a site that lags.
- Updated Content
Nothing says apathy more than an outdated website. You want your customers to know that you are in-the-now and current with your offerings. Merchandise out of stock? It should be listed on your website BEFORE the customer falls in love with the product just to have someone say it’s unavailable for months on end (knock on wood). Little updates make all the difference to the consumer, and updating your site is one of the easiest ideas to increase sales.
- Design Scheme
Your website should embody the personality of your brand.
According to Hubspot, people can recall up to 65% of information that is visually depicted for a period of 72 hours vs only 10% of information they hear for the same period of time. People are generally visual learners, so featuring high quality photos and logos that represent your brand is the way to go.
4. Email Campaigns
With 9 billion people using email applications, and 91% of consumers checking their email on a daily basis, now more than ever it’s essential to know who your target audience is when sending a newsletter. This allows you to optimize your click-through-rates and increase your customer interests in your brand’s message.
You know the age-old expression: “Know your audience.” Your email campaigns should live by this notion. Newsletters should always serve a purpose and embody your brand’s style to establish a trust and consistency of your brand.
Through our email marketing services, we design your newsletter, keep up with email list maintenance, and provide your email marketing reports so you can know exactly what content appeals to your customers.
5. Facebook Advertising
It’s the big one, that’s right, Facebook. Did you know there are over 2.19 billion monthly active Facebook users? Yeah, I said BILLION. These users are consumers of hundreds of brands, products, and services, and are always looking for the best recommendations for where they should spend their next dollar. Allocating a portion of your marketing budget to Facebook advertising may be a good idea to increase sales for your business.
When Creating your Facebook Ad:
- Choose your Objective
- Select your Audience
- Set your Budget
- Measure and Manage your Ad
6. Facebook Post “Boosts”
Another idea to increase sales is Facebook’s “Boost Post” feature. A potential reach is formed based on factors such as your budget, along with the location and interests you’re targeting.
The Boost Post button allows you to quickly create a Facebook ad using your post. This ad can appear in different places on Facebook, and you can show it to an audience of people you define. Boosting a post from your business page is a quick and easy way to show your content to people who might be interested and grow your page audience.
7. Instagram Promotions
So you’ve taken the most amazing photo and slapped on the best filter, you’re done now, right? It would be great if we could stop and call it a day’s work here, but in order to build the brand awareness you’re looking for, we have to take it a few steps further and really leverage some of the more creative ideas to increase sales.
Your brand should understand how to promote your Instagram to reach your biggest audience possible. There’s more than 700 million Instagram users, so your target customer is definitely out there watching your brand. You just have to make the sale.
With 77.6% of small business owners using social media in their marketing strategy, you’re going to want to be the business that knows the benefits and drawbacks of social media marketing.
What are the Benefits?
- Boosts Website Traffic
Instagram ads that are developed drive high volumes of website traffic. - Increase Website Conversions
Set-up Instagram advertising campaigns that are optimized for conversions. - Increase Brand Awareness
Gain brand impressions for your business at low costs
View more benefits and ideas to increase sales on Instagram in this article.
8. Hashtags
One thing that’s great about hashtags- they’re free, which makes them one of the cheapest ideas to increase sales online. By creating a group of relevant hashtags for your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts, you are highlighting your content and key messages to your audience. By using a hashtag, more people are exposed to your brand.
How do hashtags work?
Hashtags identify a keyword or topic of interest and facilitates a search for it. Did you know that posts with at least one Instagram hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than posts without a hashtag?
Using hashtags helps categorize your post or tweet by keywords. Creating a hashtag highlights the conversation you’re trying to start in a post, and consolidates all posts tagged with a keyword to one page, allowing viewers interested in certain topics like #locallysourced or #smallbusiness to see your post and invites users to explore your page.
This makes it easier than ever for customers to:
- Find your business
- Search your products
- Become acquainted with your brand’s personality
Becoming savvy with using hashtags on Instagram to push your product will increase your page traffic, and in turn, allow customers to fall in love with your brand.
Instagram even allows for you to follow a hashtag. This helps target the quality customer leads that are more likely to engage with your products and services.
Try a Trend
Just as hashtags related to your post are important, so is being engaged with trending hashtag themes like the ever-present #ThrowBackThursday. You aren’t just trying to get your post out there, you are trying to start a conversation between brand and customer.
If you’re still hashtag shy, check out LYFE’s Insta feed for some #inspiration.
9. Instagram Stories
Instagram reported that in one month, over 50% of businesses on Instagram published an Instagram Story. And one third of the most viewed stories are created by businesses.
Yet another way to highlight your good side: Instagram Stories. IG Stories enable users to post pictures and videos to an album that disappears after 24 hours. Businesses can use Instagram Stories in their marketing efforts to improve their engagement, visibility, and content.
10. Consistent Posting
Another idea to increase sales is to post frequently on your social media platforms.
Having a person or team designated to generate content increases your brand awareness, and converts to an increase in sales. It might even be a good idea to schedule your posts on a weekly calendar.
Not convinced yet? Read how we increased the sales of a local business by 714% through our social media.
11. Pinterest Advertising
From wedding boards to office decor, Pinterest is the land of ideas including ideas to increase sales. You may wonder how many users actually purchase from brands listed on Pinterest, and you’d be right if you say over half. That’s right, over 61% of “Pinners” are buying the products and services offered on Pinterest. 81% of Pinterest users are women, and Millennials use Pinterest just as frequently as Instagram. If your target audience consists of Millennial women, a Pinterest ad may be a good idea to increase sales.
You may be concerned of interrupting the Pinners experience with your promoted pins, but 73% of users agree that it’s certainly not a distraction. And they go on to agree that promoted pins help pinners discover new ideas and products, which increases brand awareness and leaves the user satisfied for having found exactly what they were looking for, and faster.
12. LinkedIn Advertising
LinkedIn is a forum where people are looking for answers and solutions to their professional problems.
With over 550 million users, LinkedIn advertising can help you reach a professional audience. LinkedIn advertising allows advertisers to target by occupation, job title, and location, amongst other categories.
LinkedIn’s advanced audience targeting capabilities allows businesses to ensure that increased traffic contains those most likely to convert into leads. If you’re company caters to a demographic of professionals, advertising here is a profitable idea to increase sales.
13. Snapchat Geofilters
It’s safe to say Snapchat may be the most fun social media app due to its silly nature and relaxed demeanor. Through Snapchat’s customizable Geofilter feature, businesses can create their own filter, which is a great marketing tool to not only impress customers, but get them sharing your branding and place of business with their Snapchat friends.
There You Have It! Ideas to Increase Sales
From email campaigns and hashtags to Facebook boosts and Google Ads, we’re ready to show you how you can take your digital advertising to the next level so you can increase sales. Make your brand a must-have amongst your targeted market.
Ideas to increase sales don’t come a dime a dozen, they’re valuable and should be sought after. Now that you have the tools to get started, let our experts help boost your digital marketing game.
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