Small and cottage manufacturing businesses, this is for you, especially if you have been struggling to convert your e-commerce traffic into customers,
I am writing this post out provocation by a post the other day, suggesting that Kenyans do not read blogs. And so they concentrate their marketing efforts on social media and paid advertising. These are excellent strategies because they serve your need for immediate sales (conversions).
I am here to help you look into your traffic sources and create your conversion strategy.
FYI, I do not blame you if you are among people who are sick, sick, sick, and tired of SEOs and digital marketing advice about blogging, conversion rates, and everything else.
Forgive me because I am also talking about the blog post conversion rate today.
It is common to have considerable traffic coming to your e-commerce store page. But, you cannot see value sales.
It does feel like a waste of time and resources.
But, you can take a step today and convert your e-commerce traffic into customers.
Here’s how to:
Identify your customer intent
Maybe, your traffic is not converting because your customer is in the exploration stage. And there is nothing wrong with this, except, you need your sales.
This mostly means you have been focusing on informational user intent. Yes, the how-to guides and other general information articles you put so much work into. However, it brought them to you, and it is your job to convert them.
HOW?
It all goes back to understanding your audience. And this time, you have some information about them. You know that somehow they are interested in a certain product.
For instance, your traffic comes from an article to did on “how to select the right foundation” (assuming you sell cosmetics). These are your future customers, depending on the actions you take.
They will now start comparing brands, prices, features, etc, to get the best fit for them. You probably left it by showing them how to choose the best foundation for their specific skin color, etc.
This is where you lost them.
You can make this right by shifting your attention from informational content – since it did its job, to transactional keywords.
For example, create content around “best foundations for x skin color). This allows you to push them further, down the sales funnel. This makes them feel like they have a choice, and they are getting expert advice.
You can also do product reviews, listicles, and also comparison articles, eg. X “brand foundation vs Y brand foundation”.
I advise you to use your analytic insights to decide on the products you promote through transactional keywords.
Identify any friction within the buying journey
Your strategy to convert your e-commerce traffic into customers needs you to identify what deters users from purchasing.
We start by looking at your landing page, is it easy to use and to find products from your landing page? Well, you can ask someone who hasn’t used your site to try and purchase an item for genuine and authentic feedback.
You should also look into your checkout process, especially if you have a high abandonment cart rate.
I want to emphasize using your GA4 and Google Console analytics for the best insights to help you convert.
How do you optimize the checkout process?
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Ensure you have inserted the “buy now” button within your content. (alternatively, you can use in-text product links)
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If you use the M-Pesa payment method, it is easier to have an API that sends a prompt to the buyer’s phone to complete the transaction easily and faster.
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Find out what your customers are struggling with during the buying process.
Motivation is also a factor in how your customers interact with your brand. Now that they are on your site, or social media page, how do you motivate them to purchase?
Think about your landing page structure. Have you optimized your landing page so there are these major components of an e-commerce landing page?
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Promotional offers (banners, pop-ups, etc, with discounts)
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% off to show them how much they are saving if they buy now
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Most popular (or searched for) product categories on the landing page
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Social proof and testimonials
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Offer guarantee (this can include money back/refund policy, shipping terms)
Buyers want to save, and they also want a guarantee that they will get the products they order. Testimonials and a nice offer guarantee might be needed to make your traffic take the leap and purchase.
Start an email list (if you haven’t yet)
Now that people are coming to your site more often to discover products, how about turning them into regular customers? Creating an email list will bring your buyers closer and you can strategically nurture them down your sales funnel.
HOW?
Create a lead magnet. It can be a downloadable guide to finding X products (assuming X is a product people search for to land on your site.
Generating leads, or creating an email list, has to be intentional and strategic. Do not ignore this.
Once you have your lead magnet ready, you can include links within your most-read articles to have people sign up for your email newsletter.
Now, let’s talk about the email conversion part!
Once a user signs up for your newsletter, you can use additional tactics to increase your conversion rate. However, the no. 1 rule you do not break is spamming them with products every other day.
These could be:
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Send them relevant content relating to their searches (thank analytic tools that identify your traffic source)
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Create customized discounts for those who sign up to increase your conversion rate
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Use your customer data for remarketing (both paid and organic e.g., send them new offers to encourage them to keep buying from you.
The idea is to use this to push your customers just a little further down your funnel and inspire them to take action and purchase.
In conclusion, if you are giving up on your blog traffic, I advise you to research and learn about the search intent. Use your data to interpret this data into a customer-focused long-term content marketing strategy.
Or consult a content marketer
Take advantage of these key takeaways today:
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Informational search intent
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Transactional search intent
If you are worried that Kenyans do not read, try creating content for your specific buyers instead of just about anyone who comes across your blog post.