The Knowledge Series by Antyra

Online buying in today’s context

The pace of online buying has dramatically increased in recent years, and it has catapulted to the forefront due to the global Pandemic. This has led to more competition for customers and a greater need for digital support for companies. In order to maximize your conversion rates, it is essential to look into your customers’ buying journey right from the awareness stage and think about how to retain them for longer.

Each business is different and needs to tailor its strategy depending on its goals and situation. You must ensure your customer has a seamless and smooth purchasing experience that results in better conversions.

Understanding your customer

In a world where online shopping can seem like a chore more than a pleasure, it’s important to remember that every customer is different. Some need help understanding products, while others need guidance with the process of choosing them. Helping your customers pick the right products requires a little bit of knowledge about what they’re looking for.

Creating a purpose-driven experience for your customer is critical to understanding their needs. Customers have different needs, and they portray varied behaviour at each stage of the buying journey. The better you can comprehend these specifics related to each customer, the easier it will be for you to guide your customers through the buying experience. This means being able to monitor their purchase history as well as the products they’re comparing and choosing, which can help you improve your overall sales and profitability.

“Find your audience, really understand the behaviour of your audience, and then figure out how you can do things to make them feel something” – Shalin Balasuriya

What you need to know about a customer’s buying experience

There are many ways to push your customers through their buying experience, whether that means getting them to make a purchase right away or encouraging them to keep browsing.

A customer goes through three main stages in their buying journey. During stage one, known as the ‘discovery stage’, they have increased awareness of the product, which is enabled through technology optimization. Secondly, during the ‘purchase stage’, a customer would be taking payment methods and delivery options into consideration, followed by a ‘post-purchase stage’ which is conducted to ensure customer fulfilment and support for future purchases.

“You can’t have friction when you are trying to sell products online. Friction is one of the biggest threats to your business, if you reduce the friction, your sales soar” – Udara Dharmasena

You need to position the customer through each of these stages to ensure their experience of the whole brand/product is smooth and facilitates a convenient purchase experience which will nudge them to revisit your platform and repurchase your product. A positive buying journey is a keystone for repeat purchases and customer loyalty.

The role of a sales funnel in making conversions

A sales funnel is a sequence of steps and actions a customer must take to purchase an item on your website or in your store. A perfect sales funnel, also known as a sales page or landing page, displays all the information needed to make a purchase and includes a variety of content ranging from images, videos, and texts that encourage action.

“When we look at the funnel, we broadly break it down into three parts: You have the discovery stage, how we translate that discovery into engagement, and how you basically get that consumer to make an action. Digital is one of the few channels that allows you to experiment with your messaging, create those use cases and build your funnel based on specific messaging” – Niranka Perera

Essentially, every component of your website conveys information about the product or service you offer to bring buyers to your product or service. A well-designed website also has an impact on how customers engage with you. By presenting information clearly and concisely, you are more likely to influence a viewer toward making a purchase.

It is vital to ensure your website is SEO optimized to reach search engine rankings and ultimately provide customers with the best experience possible when using their digital devices to access the website.

The importance of customer service

If you want people to buy from you, you have to provide value for them. Value can come in many different forms. One way is by providing exceptional customer service. If a customer has a problem with your product or service, they should be able to reach customer support (not a bot) and talk through their situation.

Whether they call, email, or reach out through your social channels, they should be able to contact you to obtain some clarity about available options and answer any queries before they commit to a purchase.

One of the most effective ways to boost customer loyalty is to provide post-purchase customer service. It can be conducted via the phone or online chat or via email. Post-purchase customer service is just as important online as it is off. Offer up additional benefits that will make conversion even more likely. Using email marketing can pay off big time; email marketing is a powerful form of direct marketing.

“To retain your customers. A post purchase experience is necessary. Showcase other products that could be useful to your customer, follow through on service for feedback” – Udara Dharmasena

It enables you to send out emails to your customers at critical moments when they are most likely to be interested in receiving them (for instance, at the end of the product life cycle of their last purchase). Well-targeted emails can dramatically increase the number of conversions taking place through your website.

The role of digital marketing in sales conversions

Digital marketing, is one of the most important areas of growth in your business because it drives traffic and leads. Without a solid digital strategy in place, you will struggle to convert prospects into customers. There are many components to a successful digital marketing campaign, but the most important is clearly identifying your target market and driving traffic towards them.

“It’s so important to understand your customer, understand who they are. Their demographics, geography. Look at what TikTok is to Gen Zs. Look at what Instagram and Facebook is to millennials. In all those instances, depending on who your customer is, your strategy has to change completely” – Manesha Jayasooriya

Customers want personalized assistance, and brands can deliver it more effectively with interactive digital tools. Customer engagement plays a vital role in driving conversions and keeping customers happy throughout their shopping experience.

Positioning is more than just a catchy ad for your product or service. It’s an emotional relationship that has been built and sustained through action. Every brand creates its brand identity and positioning through its customer experience – what they see, hear, and think when interacting with you online. Every digital interaction helps drive traffic, convert prospects into customers, and build a relationship – so position yourself towards the right audience to get noticed.

The first step in launching a successful eCommerce store is to identify your target audiences. This will help you plan your marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and Facebook ads. You’ll want to know who your target customers are because this informs the process of selling products or services online.

Launching a successful digital campaign

The key to an effective digital marketing campaign is consistency. A consistent approach will let you know how well your ads work and which part of your website generates the most traffic. Whether you’re running an ad on Google or Facebook, you need to be able to tell the difference between results that are converting and those that aren’t.

It would be best if you continually improve your digital marketing campaign to make sure that your business can draw in new leads, and this can be done in many ways. Lead generation is about continually showing your brand to people who may not otherwise know about you and getting them to take action on your services or products.

“Think of digital and ecommerce as a process – not just a one-off campaign or building a website. It’s a distribution channel, and in today’s context, it is in the forefront” – Niranka Perera

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