Guest post: Four Keys to Increase E-commerce Exposure in 2012 by Nii Ahene

As technology continues to change and new technology emerges, it can be overwhelming for business owners looking to gain exposure in today’s competitive market. Here are 4 ways to increase e-commerce exposure:

1. Social Sharing 2.0 – Pinterest and Facebook

Facebook

These days many retailers have Facebook pages, but haven’t done much since creating the page. In order to use Facebook effectively, it is important to engage your audience. Here are top-rated apps that can help you drive sales using Facebook:

• Pagemodo Welcome Page
• Booshaka
• Constant Contact: Join My List
• NetworkedBlogs
• Market Place App Powered By Oodle
• Wildfire Contest App
• YouTube for Pages

Pinterest

By now, we’re sure you have heard of Pinterest, a social bookmarking site that has gained tremendous momentum in 2012. As a retailer it’s easy to see how Pinterest have the potential to drive traffic to a website through the link attached to each “pin” or post. Here are a few tips for increasing traffic using Pinterest:

• Create your own branded pinboard
• Consider investing in compelling product imagery on-site
• Use contests encourage your customers to become virtual evangelists
• Find and engage with existing Pinterest board owners

2. Video Content – Video Reviews/Product Walkthrough

These days 61% of customers read online reviews before they make purchase decisions making them an essential part of e-commerce sites. As proven sales drivers, video reviews increase conversions.

Here are a few tips for making effective video reviews:

• Keep your review less than three minutes
• Stay focused on the product
• Concentrate on the primary product features & how they benefit the consumer
• Take advantage of simple editing software

3. Abandoned Cart Follow Up E-mails

What happens when someone abandons his or her cart in your e-commerce store? Here are proven ways to convert abandoned carts into sales:

• Make sure your website can save abandoned carts and your email system can send abandoned cart emails.
• Be sure to include real-time inventory numbers on both your product pages and in the shopping cart—if people abandoned their cart because of back-ordered products, send automatic emails when the products become available.
• In the emails sent to shoppers after they abandon their cart, let them know when their cart will be cleared.
• Include pictures of the abandoned items in the emails.
• Include promotional offers in the emails to help increase conversions.

4. Mobile Optimized Sites

With the popularity of smart phones, mobile phone owners are increasingly using their phones for mobile shopping. In fact, 35% of US Web-enabled mobile phone owners said they used their phone to shop. If you would like to make sure that your site is compatible for mobile users, here are a few tips:

• Include lower resolution photos and remove background images.
• Increase font size to improve readability.
• Redesign the e-commerce site flow vertically as opposed to horizontally.

Conclusion

Utilizing some or all of these techniques and advances in technology can increase exposure and drive sales. Have you had success using any of these techniques increase exposure? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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