Increase Conversions With More Media

Increase Your eCommerce Conversions With More Media

Few numbers are as important as your conversion rate. An ecommerce business with a low conversion rate is going to struggle significantly more than a business with a higher rate. If you want your business to thrive in a fiercely competitive market, you need to use every strategy available to you. Follow this comprehensive guide to learn how to increase ecommerce conversion rates, refine your digital marketing strategy and utilize a vast range of engaging media in order to build a loyal following.

What Are eCommerce Conversions?

A conversion rate refers to the number of individuals or unique visitors to your website, specifically those that choose the desired action. This can involve any number of actions, but for an ecommerce website it usually means purchasing an item. Obviously, this number is critical to understanding how many customers are purchasing your products.

Just as a brick-and-mortar store is interested in both the number of sales and the number of individuals who enter the store, so should ecommerce business owners be interested in these statistics concerning their websites.

The conversion rate can vary depending on the way you gather your data. Some business owners look at the number of unique users, while others look at the number of unique visits. If a single person visits your site multiple times per day, you can see how these two numbers could be quite different. Choose the rate that makes the most sense for your business, or compare both rates to find an average. The conversion rate will usually be expressed as a percentage of customers who visit and make a purchase.

This metric is a very important distinction from your purchase count. If your sales are increasing but your conversion rate is declining, your business has issues that should be improved. A low rate means that, while many users are viewing your listings and web pages, comparatively few are making purchases.

For best effect, measure your conversions on a monthly basis. Any shorter than one month, particularly for business-to-business sales, and you won’t get accurate estimates. Similarly, longer time frames could even out many seasonal aspects, making the number less significant.

Conversion rates aren’t just for companies who sell products. If you’re looking for individuals to call you to schedule a local service, or if you provide an online service, you can still benefit from researching and understanding your conversion rate.

Types of Media for Online Marketing

As an online business owner, you need to spend some time crafting your brand experience. In order to sell more products and create a loyal following, all of your brand messages should reflect your company values. Take a minute and consider the following questions about your ecommerce business:

1. Who are your target audience?
2. What type of company are they looking for?
3. What products are they looking for?
4. Where are your products listed?
5. How can you create a loyal following?

Turning one-time customers into loyal followers is at the heart of great branding. Not only will this lead to more sales, it’ll also help you create a customer-to-customer advertising base, particularly when using social media to spread the word about your products.

To create more engaging online marketing and keep your customers’ attention for longer periods of time, consider adding these important types of media to your marketing, websites and product listings:

• Images
• Infographics
• Videos
• Screenshots
• Presentations
• Memes

Because our brains can process visual content up to 60,000 times more rapidly than text, these media are excellent ways to quickly and effectively communicate your message. Media in your listings can help your customer quickly identify your company, your product and how it might be useful for them.

Creativity Sells

Don’t just update a boring, out-of-focus image and expect to see results. Your customers are expecting to see creativity in order to determine whether your brand is credible. 46.1 percent of customers researched by the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab felt that a creative website was more reputable than one that wasn’t well designed. From images to videos, only use the latest and most original media in order to increase ecommerce conversion rates for all your products.

Visual media are particularly important if you’re selling a complex or technical item. With the increased level of customer knowledge and interest in the technological, images and videos are one of the most efficient ways to convey information in a way that is helpful and relatable. You won’t need to pitch the many uses of your products. Rather, you can simply show them being used in a positive and beneficial way.

Use Images for Eye-Catching Listings

An image has the power to combine an overwhelming amount of information with simple, powerful emotions. Nearly all product listings require at least a single image of the product, but be sure to add more images for added context. New angles, color options or modeled items can help give your customer more information about your product.

From humor to heartbreak, an image can help your customer understand how they should feel about your product when using it. Every product creates a feeling, or is used when a customer feels a certain way. All you need is a creative picture of someone using the product in a natural, enjoyable way. You can also use humor as a sales tactic. A study of Facebook users found that 48 percent share posts based on entertainment value.

You’ll want to consider hiring a professional photographer who specializes in product photography. There are some tips and tricks to achieving the best lighting, focus and theme for all of your images. If you’re uploading up to 10 photos per item, you want to make sure each one is unique and captures your product or branding strategy in a new and eye-opening way.

Create an Interactive Brand With Videos

If you want to stay ahead of the trends and use the latest technology, you need to incorporate videos into your product listings and content marketing. There are a tremendous number of ways your company will benefit from including videos in your marketing strategy. Here are just a few facts to show how you can increase conversion rates with videos:

• 76 percent of businesses that use video marketing saw an increase in traffic.
• For up to 30 days, 80 percent of users can remember a video ad they’ve seen.
• 72 percent of customers prefer to watch a video in order to learn about a product.
• 65 percent of executives view a website after watching a YouTube video or advertisement about that company.
• Videos of your product on your landing page can increase your conversion rate by 80 percent.

Any one of these statistics should be reason enough to include more videos in your marketing strategy. As an ecommerce business, you need to help your customers get a better understand of your product, identify how they could use your product and help match it with interested customers who are searching for similar products.

There are plenty of options when it comes to creating a video. Whether you use computer graphics, engaging footage with a voiceover or a more informal, interview style, all videos can communicate a great deal about your company.

Video marketing can also help build trust between you and your customer. Some companies choose to create videos of their CEO or founder discussing the company’s mission. Others use actors to create quirky, memorable videos for each product listing. However you use videos in your online advertising, you’ll likely see a dramatic improvement in your traffic and conversion rate.

Types of Videos

Consider the type of video you want to create. Once you’ve determined whether you’re creating a video for a product listing or your landing page, you’ll need to set the tone and craft the content. Some common emotional reactions to online videos include:

• Amusement
• Laughter
• Awe

Other content choices include the use of background music, location, humanizing factor or goal. For some videos, the goal is to show the pain point that the product solves. Other videos show the type of person who uses the product, hoping to connect with a customer’s aspirations.

All these factors will vary considerably depending on your product. If it’s something simple, easy to understand and practical, you’ll want to show why your particular product is better than the competition. Or, if you have something truly unique and unheard of, you’ll need to show why your customers can’t live without it. Still other videos could simply show that you’re a trustworthy company. Building trust is critical, particularly if your products may seem suspiciously low in price. Customers want to grab a great deal, but you’ll need to help convince them that your business is trustworthy.

Making Connections With Mobile Video Ads

Google determined that smartphone users enjoyed videos even more than desktop or TV users. Mobile users felt connected with brands that showed videos fully twice as much traditional desktop users. With the rise of mobile browsing, it’s never been more important to create listings that are tailored for mobile viewers.

When you consider crafting a video for mobile users, think about the information you need to convey. Some users are going to experience your video visually, with a muted volume, while others may experience it primarily through audio. Of course, many other users will also enjoy the full video through both channels. A well-crafted product listing video provides essential information through both images and sound.

Whether your videos are used to bring customers to your website or land a sale, it’s important to craft them to be easily experienced on a variety of devices.

Refresh Your Web Design

While you’re improving the range of media on your website and product listings, don’t forget to cover these other important tips to help increase your ecommerce conversion rates. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to increase conversions on an already well-established product line, here are a few more tips and tricks to help sell your products:

• Improve Load Times: Even a few milliseconds can mean the difference between a customer who purchases your product and a customer who switches to another web page. Invest in high-speed hosting in order to keep your website up to speed.
• Optimize for a Mobile Audience: With 70 percent of mobile transactions happening on a smartphone, you need to invest in a website and product listings that are optimized for mobile viewing. Thankfully, if you’re selling on Amazon or another popular storefront, the website will already be tailored for these customers. However, your home page and videos should all be fully compatible with mobile surfing.
• Create Engaging Content: Images and videos are powerful tools to help keep your customers’ attention. However, it’s also important to have all your content reflect your brand. Keep your content clear, unique and engaging in order to establish credibility and connect with your audience.
• Utilize Social Media: A loyal following is not only likely to purchase your items, they can also help win more customers. Use social media and other tools to help your audience feel like a family. Prominent placement of high star ratings and informational customer reviews is also a winning strategy to help increase your conversion rate.
• Try a Multi-Channel Strategy: If you aren’t already using Listing Mirror and Fulfillment By Amazon to create a comprehensive and synchronized inventory management system, this should be your first step. Selling on multiple channels allows you to reach a more diverse customer base, which in turn allows you to win more loyal followers. Listing Mirror can help you easily connect all these channels in a clear, hassle-free business model.

Sell More With Listing Mirror

Creating a dynamic and competitive ecommerce brand doesn’t have to be difficult. While you’re working on your next product listing video, check out Listing Mirror for a great way to boost the efficiency of your ecommerce business. From multi-channel support, like inventory syncing and listing management, to comprehensive analytics, you’ll find all the support you need to spend more time crafting your media advertising. Get started today, and get ready to connect with more followers and increase your ecommerce conversion rate.

Sell More. Work Less.