A new year presents a new opportunity to set goals for your business. While some goals you have may be constant year-over-year, others will evolve over time and need to be updated. As you look over your expectations for this year, having concrete goals will help keep your business stay on track and identify focus points for you and your marketing team to use a guidance.
Here are some great goals to consider setting for your e-commerce business in 2019.
Grow Your Email List
Even with all of the new technology and solutions created every year, email marketing continues to offer the highest ROI for independent e-commerce retailers. From re-engaging customers to driving holiday traffic, email serves as an excellent medium for reaching consumers. On average, email has a ROI of $38 for each dollar spent.
Understand that when someone chooses to opt-in to your email list, that’s a big step in your relationship with them. They’ve communicated to you that they want to hear from you and your company, and are likely considering making a purchase in the near future. This is why growing your email list is one of best ways to improve your success this year. The best way to grow your email list is by offering customers a deal or reward in exchange for their subscription to your email list.
As your list is growing, ensure that your email communication with consumers is on-topic, relevant, and brings value to them. Sending too many emails can seem spammy to customers if they don’t find the value in your communication with them.
Work With Influencers
Leveraging influencer marketing is a good way to drive traffic to your online store this year. Finding authentic, fairly-priced influencers to collaborate with is easier than ever with online tools like influence.co. Researching and contacting influencers directly on their social media accounts is an effective way to get started as well. Many will have a business email listed in their bio where you can inquire about a potential partnership.
When you find the right influencer for your business, you’ll want to plan out all the details regarding your partnership. Everything from the type of content they’ll be sharing to the timeframe of the promotion and details on payment will need to be considered.
If you’re budget is limited, micro-influencers may be a better fit for you. Often times influencers with a less-established following will offer promotion in exchange for free products. However, larger influencers will almost always want monetary compensation.
Extend Your Aisle
As an online retailer, consistent year-to-year growth can be difficult to achieve. For a traditional brick & mortar retailer, this usually means investing in technology, expanding your physical locations, or outsourcing customer service. These aren’t always viable options for an independent e-commerce retailer. So, how can you successfully scale your online business for growth? That’s where tan extended aisle comes in.
Extending your aisle refers to the concept of sourcing, listing, and fulfilling products through a third-party that ships products directly to your customer. For example, if you’re currently offering custom apparel, you may want to add phone cases and hats to your product offering. By extending your aisle with a partner like ProductPro, you can offer phone cases and hats to your customers without investing in physical inventory. The extended aisle model is commonly referred to as dropshipping.
Offering new products means new opportunities to reach consumers who may have been previously uninterested in your brand. Leveraging this model in a tactical way will allow you to increase your overall SKU count and potentially shine a light on products and categories your customers will love.
