It’s a new year and a fresh chance to look over what’s been working well in your marketing strategy, as well as shaking up those overused techniques that may be keeping your business from reaching its full potential.
We all know these habits, whether it’s posting the same overdone content, ticking over the same marketing habits that bring you a steady return on investment year on year – but what about increasing that? We want you to think bigger in 2024 about boosting your sales.
Getting your business in front of new eyes and reengaging your loyal customer base is all about marketing to them in a new and more exciting way. So, if you want to take your B2C sales from buying blues to buying enthuse, read on!
Let’s take it back a step
A quick audit is a great place to start. Look, everyone is guilty of missing a beat or two (especially during that busy run up to Christmas), so take a look over these basics to make sure you’ve got a strong foundation to build big sales on:
- Exclusivity to loyal returning customers: Show appreciation to those customers who have lasted the test of time. Think about discount codes, exclusive access to launches and maybe even consider a loyalty program to keep thank them for their continued support.
- Email marketing campaigns: Don’t get us wrong, the ad hoc launches and monthly emails are great, but have you got a solid customer journey? Is your customer consistently hearing from you throughout their journey. A big chunk of your sales are captured further down the line with a reminder email or a ‘we miss you’ note. Build your brand through presence and consistency.
- Social media content: Think about who you are as a brand and how you want to be perceived by your customer base. Similar to your email strategy, be consistent. Think of new regular content to write and schedule it ahead of time to save worrying on the day and potentially posting content which doesn’t fit. This is your platform to build your brand however you want. You could build on this with paid social advertising (and we’ll get to that) but in 2024 social media is likely to be the first port of call for consumers, and first impressions count.
Going up a gear
You have those basics locked in, so what’s next? If you are wanting to look back a year from now and see a skyrocket in those year-on-year stats, think about these options to build your business and increase revenue…
- Clearance sales: No business wants stock sitting around for too long. Have you got Christmas stock that just won’t budge? Offering discounts is known to be on the most attractive buying incentives. Tie this into your email and social media campaigns to push it out to old and new customers alike. Get your product in front of as many eyes as possible and move stock at the same time – you’ll likely gather a number of returning customers in the process.
- Loyalty programmes: Launching a loyalty programme in the new year offers a number of benefits. It rewards returning customers for their support and offers them incentives to keep buying when you start seeing the dreaded slow in B2C sales early in the year. Over a long term this positively builds brand awareness and by offering member-only incentives you are making it known that by being signing up offers them the best deal.
- Prepare for the worst, strive for the best: Returns are inevitable, it’s par for the course in B2C sales! Christmas is a time for buyer’s blues to come out in full force; whether its partners disliking a gift or someone receiving a handful of the same thing, so returns are going to happen. Seize this opportunity to redirect customers, rather than taking the hit full force.
Think about offering exchanges or credit, this might first look like taking a hit, but you could be encouraging new customers to try something else and by doing so you’ll gain their trust and future brand loyalty. Consider upselling to these customers or offer discounts and offers before accepting the return; soothe possible customer with low-cost incentives to sweeten the deal.
Thinking bigger yet? Let’s level up.
You are the expert in your business, you know your brand inside and out. We want you to have more time to focus on what you’re best at, whilst utilising a multi-layered team of marketing specialised to take your business from steady to sky’s the limit.
