When looking to expand your audience online, it’s important to remember that each anonymous view of your website, or click of a button, represents an individual.
While it can be tempting to try to drive as much traffic to your platform as possible, losing sight of your target audience can result in fewer conversions, no matter how many views your website appears to be getting.
As in a physical store, the wants and needs of your customers must be at the forefront of your brand’s values. So, while some of the interactions may be lost in the running of an online shop, there are still plenty of ways to connect to your patrons and ensure their individual needs are being met.
Identify your market
When selling your products or services online, it’s vital to ask yourself who it is exactly that you’re trying to reach.
By profiling your customers, you can help to give yourself a better idea of their needs, which in turn can help you to tailor the customer’s journey to ensure they are matched with the best service or product for them.
It can help to create a persona, or personas, to give yourself a better understanding of who your audience is, and approach them accordingly. Are they a single, city-dwelling entrepreneur, or a stay-at-home parent of three? Are they budget conscious? By pinning down your audience and separating them into categories, you can tailor your services to each profile, and find a way to identify with their specific needs.
Utilise the data available
While you may never be able to have a conversation with each individual customer making a purchase from your website, there are still ways to deepen your understanding of their needs.
By mapping out the data you receive from your customers, such as their age, location, gender and frequency of purchases, you can begin to build a better picture of what they’re looking for.
Sending tailored ‘thank you’ emails with discount codes can help your customers feel a sense of inclusion, and surveys posted on your website can allow your patrons to provide feedback, which will give you a better insight into ways you can improve.
Use content to connect with your customers
While the purpose of your website is ultimately to sell your products, focusing too much on sales can turn your audience away.
By creating content that showcases your brand’s unique selling points (USPs), you can deepen your relationship with your customer base by incorporating a human element into your business and giving your audience a glimpse behind the scenes. This can be done by adding videos to your website or writing newsletters.
Having a frequent blog as a feature on your website can also help strengthen your audience’s connection with your brand. Creating useful how-to guides, or discussing a new product in depth, can also have the positive knock-on effect of bringing more traffic to your website, by utilising well-researched keywords.
If you’re looking to improve your relationship with your online audience, or seeking to increase traffic to your website, speak to our team at Engage Web today.
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